Unconditionally (Loving You)
by PenToTheHeart
Summary: What does family mean to you? The Shield's own Roman Reigns is one of the WWE's fastest rising stars. He has the life everyone wants. But his past catches up to him when he comes face to face with the family he left behind. He is now determined to make amends with his ex-wife and children; especially his determined daughter. Now, Roman is in for the toughest fight of his life.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:  
I decided to take a little time off from writing in general, because I needed a little time to get some things together. I decided to pick up on writing again after reading some pretty amazing books. After doing a little reading, it just got my creative juices following. Also, my little brother has been obsessed with wrestling for the past couple of months, so I decided to watch with him. I'll have to admit that it isn't horrible.  
So I decided to write a story involving one of the WWE's factions: The Shield. This story takes place before The Shield breaks up.  
I do not own any of the wrestlers in WWE, the things I own are the characters you don't recognize and the storylines surrounding them.**

_Story Overview:  
Audrey King is an energetic, sharp-tongued, and feisty young girl who works in her mother: Dinah King's, flower shop along with her older brother: Neil King and her younger twin brothers: Tyson King and Vincent King in their hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. Although they struggle to get by everyday, what keeps them going is the love and affection they give each other.  
Growing up, Audrey couldn't help but wonder who her father was. Audrey's father abandoned their family when she was really young so she doesn't really remember him. But Audrey doesn't have to remember him to hate him. Audrey has a strong dislike for her father because he simply abandoned her mother to take care of four kids on her own. Although Audrey strongly dislikes him, she couldn't help but wonder who he is. All Audrey wanted was a father.  
One day, Audrey was snooping around her family's storage unit to find some things on her family for her Family Tree project for her U.S History class. When looking around in some boxes, Audrey finds her birth certificates with the name Leati Joseph Anoa'i registered underneath as her biological father. The King siblings soon realize that their biological father is none other than WWE's own Roman Reigns!  
When Audrey meets her biological father at a live Friday Night Smackdown taping in New Orleans, she confronts him and refuses to acknowledge him as her father. While Roman is determined make amends with his biological children, as well as his ex-wife.  
Will Audrey get the real father she spent her whole life wanting? While Roman has to make a choice: Dinah and their children or his future wife and their beautiful daughter?_

* * *

Chapter 01: Our Family Values

New Orleans, Louisiana is a buzz as all the residence are getting ready for Mardi Gras coming up in a few days. But no place was busier than Dinah King's flower shop. Dinah's flower shop was in charge for all the flower arrangements for the Mardi Gras parade. "Yes, that's four dozen calla lilies and 2 dozen white carnations" Dinah said on the phone. "Honey, those need more water" Dinah said off the phone to her oldest son: Neil King as he watered some sunflowers on display. Once Neil finished watering the flowers, he walked up to the table by front where his younger twin brothers: Tyson and Vincent, were eating breakfast and said "Come on guys, we gotta get going."

"Audrey! Come down, you'll be late to school! Again!" Dinah yelled.

Meanwhile Audrey was in her room finishing up her make up. Audrey was dressed in a black/white collared top, denim hooded vest, burgundy shorts, dark brown lace up knee boots, and black beanie. Audrey grabbed her backpack, ran downstairs and said "I'm here! I'm here! Let's go!" as she shoved an apple in her mouth as the King siblings went off to school.

"Glad someone finally woke up from hibernation" Tyson mouthed off as they walked to school. "I wouldn't have overslept, if you cavemen didn't stay up all night watching wrestling. BTW, that stuff will rot your brain" Audrey retorted.

"Please, it's called self-defense" Neil said, sounding like an expert. Audrey flashed him a look, before flicking him in the forehead. Neil looked at her before Audrey ran off as her brother's chased after her. This was the normal routine for these siblings.

Audrey raced to her U.S History, and quickly slid into her seat next to her best friend: Holly Quinn, right before the bell rung. "Saved by the bell" Holly quipped as Audrey quickly remarked "Like always" as their U.S History teacher: Mr. Hoyt, came in right after.

"We were talking about, home life in the U.S during the First World War" Mr. Hoyt said. "How were most family values at the time?"

Audrey raised her hand and Mr. Hoyt called on her "Yes, Ms. King?" "Most families were working a lot more, whether if it was for the sake of the war or whether to simply put food on the table."

"That's a pretty good explanation. And this is a good segue into your final project of the semester. Since we are discussing family values, you will all present a family tree project to the class and you must explain what your family means to you. And you better do a good job, because this project is worth 30% of your grade" Mr. Hoyt explained as the whole class groaned.

Audrey suffered through the rest of the class, until the school bell rang and Mr Hoyt dismissed them "Now do your projects and the reading! Class dismissed!"

Audrey and Holly left history to go to their next class. "A family tree project doesn't seem to bad" Holly said. "Well, it'll be easy for you. Your dads are really cool and you still have a decent relationship with your mom. Meanwhile, I know nothing about my dad, other than the fact he left us when my mom was pregnant with the twins, and my she refuses to talk about him."

"Well, you'll figure something out, your grade depends on it anyway. Plus, doesn't your mom keep a bunch of family stuff in her storage unit?" Holly pointed out. "Yeah, maybe I can find something for my project there. Holly, you are a genius." "What would you do without me?" Holly remarked as Audrey rolled her eye, hooked onto her best friend's arm, as they headed to their next class.

Once Audrey finished up school for the day, she headed back to her family's flower shop to help her mother out with Mardi Gras. As Audrey watered some flowers, Dinah asked "Where are your brothers?" "Let's see, Neil is at soccer practice, Vincent has piano, and Tyson has detention for letting out the school rat."

Dinah rolled her eyes and said to herself "What am I gonna do with that boy?" "I'm telling you, there's nothing wrong with reform school" Audrey joked.

"Stop! And help me with this" Dinah said as Audrey ran to help her mother unload the new flowers. Audrey loved working with her mother in the flower shop, and it helped her relax after a long day. "I can't wait for Mardi Gras!" Audrey said. "Well, I'm excited for the paycheck I'm going to get after Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is one of best times of the year for us. We get the most business around this time of the year" Dinah explained as they finished unloading the flowers.

After a long day, the Kings were in their loft above the flower shop. Dinah and Audrey are finishing up setting the table for dinner, Tyson and Vincent were watching Monday Night Raw, and Neil was on the phone, trying to win some radio contest. "Why are you watching that stuff? It'll rot your minds!" Dinah yelled at the twins who were so enamored by wrestling. "Mom, this is stuff is so intense!" Tyson yelled. "Just don't try that stuff on your brother! The last thing I need are you two ending up in the emergency room, again" Dinah yelled.

"Yes!" Neil yelled as he hung up his phone. "Guess who won four tickets to this week's Friday Nigh Smackdown?"

"Santa Claus?" Audrey quipped as Dinah interjected "You two, stop it. Ty, Vin, turn that off it's time for dinner", and the King siblings did exactly what their mother said.

"And you are not going to that wrestling event" Dinah said as she served her children. "Come on, mom!" Neil, Tyson, and Vincent pleaded to their mother. Dinah thought about it and finally spoke out "Ok, you three can go, but Audrey has to go with you."

"What?!" they all yelled in unison. "Mom, I don't wanna go! Wrestling is nothing but barbaric. They're all brawn, no brain" Audrey complained. "Well, that's the deal, either all four of you go, or none of you go at all" Dinah bargained with her kids.

"Well, on a completely unrelated subject, mom can I have your key to the storage unit?" Audrey asked. "Why?" "Well, I have a family tree project due for U.S History in a few weeks and I'm starting now so I don't do a crap job later. And maybe there's stuff there, that'll help me with my project."

Dinah ate her salad and said "I'm sorry honey, but you know the rules; no snooping around in the storage unit." "But mom-" "No, Audrey. There are some things in there you can't see. End of discussion."

Audrey just stared down her mom and said "Fine" not arguing with her mother.

After dinner, Audrey knocked on her brother's door and asked "Hey, big brother!" "What do you want Audrey?" "I was wondering, if you still have a copy of the key to mom's storage unit?"

"Didn't mom say you can't go in there?" Neil said sitting up on his bed. "Yeah, but this is for school. This is an exception." "You do realize, we'll both be in the dog house if mom finds out."

"Neil, we're going to the storage unit, or I tell mom you rode Dustin Paladino's motorcycle into that old lady's mailbox" Audrey blackmailed her brother. Neil grabbed his hoodie and said "Let's go!"

As they were about to leave, Tyson and Vincent stood in front of them and Tyson asked "Where are you two going?" "Nowhere" they said in unison.

"You guys are going to the storage unit, are you?" Vincent asked. Neil and Audrey exchanged looks, until Neil said "You guys can't come with us. It's passed your curfew and mom will ground you guys until you're 30." "Like she'll ground you two when she finds out you guys are going to the storage unit when she said not to" Tyson blackmailed his older siblings.

"You guys wanna go, don't you?" Audrey asked. "We'll get our sweaters" the twins said in unison as they scurried to their rooms.

Once they knew their mother was asleep, the King siblings snuck out of their home and walked over to their mother's storage unit, which was three blocks over from their house. Dinah kept a lot of things in that storage unit because she liked to frequently redecorate the loft. But she made it very clear to her kids that she didn't want them sticking their noses in there. Dinah was hiding something, and Audrey was determined to find out.

When they got to the storage unit, Neil unlocked it, to find boxes of everything their mother owned. "Where do we start?" Tyson asked. "Pick a box, and start snooping" Audrey said. The kids started looking through boxes, only to find holiday decorations, old clothes, and old decorations. As Audrey looked around in one of the boxes, she noticed a velvet navy blue box inside.

"Guys look at this" Audrey said as the siblings gathered around. Audrey took out the box and noticed it was padlocked. "It's locked, Audrey" Vincent said. "We'll see about that" Audrey said as she took a bobby pin out of her hair and picked the lock open. "Impressive" Neil said as they ruffled through the box. Inside were photos of what was there mother when she was younger, a bunch of letters addressed to her, and a few little trinkets with included: a ring and a gold locket with jeweled fleur-de-lis emblem on the front._  
_

Audrey took the locket and tried to open it. "Well, I can't open the locket" Audrey said throwing it back inside. "Well, all that's in here is a bunch of letters addressed to mom" Neil said looking through the letters. Audrey looked deeper in the box and pulled out a piece of paper that turned out her birth certificate. "_Leati Joseph Anoa'i_" Audrey tried to pronounce the name.

"Who's that?" Vincent asked. "Apparently he's our dad. He's registered as my biological father" Audrey asked. "Joe Anoa'i?" Neil asked. "Yeah, why?"

"He sent a bunch of letters to mom" Neil said holding a bunch of letters in his hand. "Why does that name sound familiar? Vin, you have your phone?" Tyson asked. Vincent handed Tyson his phone. Tyson took a letter and Google searched 'Joe Anoa'i'. What popped up took Tyson by surprise and all he voiced out was "Oh...my...god..."

"What?" Audrey asked. "Our dad is Roman Reigns!" Tyson said showing the phone to his siblings. Neil and Vincent's mouths gaped open as Neil snatched the phone and said "This is insane." "Who's Roman Reigns?" Audrey asked. "Only, the strongest dude the Shield. His Superman punch can take out anyone. And his spear is insane" Vincent explained.

Audrey let out a deep sigh and simply commented "You guys watch way too much T.V. Too much for your own good." "I can't believe Roman Reigns is our dad" Neil breathed out.

"Our dad is a wrestler. A barbaric wrestler" Audrey said trying to make sense of everything. "An i_nsanely awesome_ barbaric wrestler" Tyson gushed. "No comment" Audrey simply said.

Audrey thought for a minute and asked "You guys are still going to that live taping of Friday Night Smackdown right?" "Yeah?" Neil said.

"Good, I'm going with you" Audrey quipped. "Audrey..." Neil started. "I'm going, or I'm going tell everyone who cried when Christina Grimmie didn't the win the Voice" Audrey blackmailed her brothers with a smile. They exchanged glances before saying in unison "You're in."

"Alrighty, I'm coming to see you daddy..." Audrey said as she looked at Roman Reign's Wikipedia page. Audrey had a thing or two to say to her father..

* * *

**Author's Note: Here is Chapter 1 of my brand-new story. This is my first story in a while, so cut me a little slack if it's not awesome. Anyways, please review if you want me to continue it.  
****Note: the fleur-de-lis is actually the logo for the New Orleans Saints. This locket is similar to the one Bella gave to Renesmee in Twilight (for those who saw that!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:  
So, I decided to update again since I had a little free time and I had this really cool idea involving Audrey are bittersweet reunion with her long-lost father. This is going to be an interesting reunion.  
I still maybe a little rusty after taking some time off from writing, so this may not be perfect. But, everything is open for improvement. If you have any ideas or suggestions, review or private message me.  
Anyways, here is chapter 2! It's Friday night, and the King siblings (Neil, Audrey, Tyson, and Vincent) meet their father for the first time in a very long time. This is going to be one explosive family reunion. Also, you learn a little bit more about Audrey, Dinah, and Audrey's BFF: Holly.  
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own any of the Wrestlers or Divas mentioned in this story. All I own are the King family, my storylines, and any of the characters you don't recognize.  
WARNING! POTENTIALLY LONG CHAPTER Alert!**

* * *

Chapter 02: Reunited, Doesn't it Feel Good? (Not Really)

Audrey was soundly sleeping in her room, trying to sleep off the news she and her brothers discovered. She was soundly sleeping until the deafening sound of Paramore from her cellphone woke her up. Audrey groaned as she reached over her phone and turned it off. Audrey sat up, combed her hair back as her eyes traveled to the navy blue velvet box on her desk, and said to herself "That sure as hell wasn't a dream."

Audrey was still trying to process everything she discovered. Audrey couldn't understand why her mother couldn't just tell her who her father was, so she wouldn't have to go behind her mother's back to see what she was hiding.

"God I have to clean up in here" Audrey made a mental note to herself referring to the clothes, shoes, and art supplies that covered her room.

Audrey managed to will herself out of bed and got ready to take on her day. Audrey put on her black/gray mineral wash cropped tee shirt, denim hooded vest, cobalt shorts, dark brown combat boots. Audrey straightened her hair and patiently did her make up. Whenever Audrey was anxious or nervous she always did her hair and make up. It kept her busy and relaxes her. And Audrey was pretty anxious that today was the day she was going to meet her father. Audrey was just surprised at how quickly the week left her.

When Audrey finished getting ready, she put on her nude pom beanie, grabbed her backpack, phone, and art supplies and headed down to the flower shop. "Good morning" Dinah greeted her daughter as Audrey said "Morning mom."

Audrey put her stuff down and decided to put the new shipment of flowers in some water. "Are you coming home right after school today?" "Ummm, no actually. I'm meeting with Ms. Radner after school today to talk about my portfolio."

Audrey considered herself a very artistic person. Audrey used art as an outlet in her life for all her creativity. Audrey was talented in many different art forms, but her favorite was painting with watercolors.

"Mom, Ms. Radner said that with my portfolio, I could qualify for this really cool art scholarship. I could spend the whole summer in Amsterdam to study art. Tuition and Board, all paid for."

Once Dinah finished unloading the new flowers, Dinah looked at her daughter and said dubiously "I don't know Audrey..." "Can you at least think about it? We're not gonna spend a dime" Audrey pleaded.

"Alright" Dinah finally gave in. "Thanks, mom!" Audrey said hugging her mother tightly. Although Audrey was excited at the idea about being able to study abroad, but she couldn't help but think about her father.

Once they pulled away, Neil and the twins came downstairs and asked "You ready?" "Yeah, bye mom" Audrey said as she got her backpack and art stuff and left with her brothers.

"Have a good day! Stay out of trouble!" Dinah yelled as Tyson yelled back "No promises!" as the King siblings left for school.

As they walked to school, Neil asked Audrey "What's up with mom? She seems a little on edge." "Did you tell her about the storage unit?" Vincent asked freaking out.

"The day I tell mom about the storage unit, is the day I die" Audrey joked. "And, I was talking to mom about that study abroad art program in Amsterdam for the Summer."

Tyson chuckled and said "Do you honestly think mom will let you go another country by herself?" "I made a very convincing argument" Audrey said as they headed off to school.

**...**

Meanwhile, Dinah was busy organizing her flowers for Mardi Gras coming up. But Dinah's mind was somewhere else. Dinah couldn't help but think about Audrey's persistence in leaving home. Dinah knew her kinds were growing up, but she didn't think it would happen so quickly.

As Dinah organized some flowers, her phone started ringing. It was none other than her best friend: Laurie Mitchell. Dinah have been best friends since high school. Laurie was Dinah's confidant when she got pregnant in high school with Neil and through her divorce with Joe or 'Roman Reigns'. Dinah could always depend on Laurie for anything and could always go to her for a brutal dose of honesty or reality.

"Hey Laur" Dinah greeted her best friend. "Hey Dinah! What's wrong? You sound sad."

"It's nothing" Dinah tried brushing it off. "Dinah, I know when something's bugging you. I know you, better than you know yourself."

Dinah let out a deep sigh and said "It's Audrey, she wants to study abroad in Amsterdam for the summer on an art scholarship." "I think that's awesome!"

"She's just a child!" "We all know how mature Audrey is for her age. We know how self-sufficient and independent she is. She could take case of herself" Laurie reasoned out.

"I swear the kids are growing up so fast, I don't know if I can keep up" Dinah said dismally. "Dinah you can't keep protecting like this. Sooner or later, their going go to go out on their own. Without you."

"It's just... you know" Dinah voiced out and Laurie knew exactly what she was talking about. "You're seriously still thinking about Joe? It's been 10 years, you need to move on."

"You're right. The last thing I need is Joe back in the kid's lives" Dinah voiced out her frustration. "Are you ever gonna tell the kids about him?"

"I will tell them when their legal adults and I have no more say in the matter" Dinah said. "Ok, but if you don't tell them, they'll find out on their own. And they'll resent you for keeping it from them."

"I'm just protecting them. It's mother's job to protect her kids" Dinah reasoned out. "But, you can't protect them forever..." Laurie said giving her best friend a dose of reality.

What Laurie said was true. Dinah spent her whole life protecting her children, but can she really do it forever.

**...**

"I still can't believe your dad is pro wrestler!" Holly said as her and Audrey sat for lunch. "I know! You should see the crap my mom keeps in her storage unit" Audrey said voicing out her frustration.

"Well at least you know who he is" Holly reasoned out. "Yeah, but it would've been nice for my mom to tell me, so I wouldn't have to go behind her back."

Holly took a big bite of her salad and asked "How does he look like?" Audrey showed a picture to Holly and she cooed "He's so hot!" "Dude! That's my dad and he's like 30!"

"Right" Holly said as Audrey took her phone back. "If, you need someone to talk to, my dad is taking walk-ins today" Holly offered.

"I love your dads, but I'm still trying to process everything. This is something, I don't want to announce to the world, you know?" "I got you. But this is so cool! Your life has officially gotten 10x's more exciting."

Since Audrey didn't have a father growing up, Holly and her dads offered her a lot of support. One of Holly's dads was a counselor at their school, so it made it easy for Audrey to talk to him about anything; whether if it was about school or her personal life. Holly's fathers consider Audrey like a second daughter to them. Audrey loves Holly's fathers for their eccentric and lovable natures.

Audrey flashed her best friend a look and said "I am so glad you're enjoying my identity crisis." "Sorry, dude. I promise, I'll be supportive" Holly said as Audrey smiled as they did their signature handshake before throwing out their lunch and heading out to class.

After suffering through the rest of her classes, Audrey had a free period. Audrey headed over to the art room. Audrey set up an easel started doing a little abstract water color art. As Audrey worked, her art teacher: Ms. Radner came in and said "Hello, Audrey. How are you doing?" "Pretty good. I worked on some new pieces, that I think you'd like" Audrey said, handing Ms. Rander her portfolio.

Ms. Radner looked through her portfolio and notices the change in her art work. The use of darker colors and the designs. "Audrey, is there something bothering you?" "Why, do you ask?"

"Your paintings. The use of darker colors, you seem upset about something." "I'm meeting my dad today for the first time in 10 years." Audrey admitted.

Audrey is very close to Ms. Radner. Ms. Radner really helped Audrey's art improve and encourages her to view things from a different perspective.

"And, other than my brothers and Holly. You're the only other person I've told. Not even my mom knows" Audrey admits. "Well, I'm glad you're channeling your emotions into your art, but try not to let your emotions cloud your perspective."

Audrey just let out a deep breath and Ms. Radner complemented her portfolio "Your portfolio has a strong showing. Your wide array of art and styles, makes you a strong candidate for the Amsterdam School of the Arts scholarship. Here's the rest of the information for the scholarship and my letter of recommendation is in there as well. Just remember to mail everything in by the deadline" handing her a manila envelope.

Audrey simply stared at the envelope, reminding herself that there is more to life that her issues with her family.

**...**

School ended rather quickly, and the night came in the blink of an. Audrey was in her room getting ready to go to the live taping of Friday Night Smackdown with her brothers. Audrey put on a black leather bustier crop top, dark wash denim studded jacket, army green skinny jeans, and black strapped sandals.

When Audrey finished touching up her make up and curling her hair, she put on her wide brim fedora and got her stuff together. Audrey got her camel colored satchel and started putting her phone and wallet away. Once she did that, she opened her mother's box and placed her birth certificate in her purse. After that, Audrey threw her purse on her bed and walked over to her bookcase; which was filled with books from top to bottom. Audrey liked reading, but a majority of the things in her book case was scrapbooks. Audrey liked scrap booking and used to preserve memories that really meant something to her.

When Audrey found the scrapbook that she was looking for, she simply stared at it before placing it in her purse. And as if on cue, the twins came in and Vincent asked "Are you ready, sis?" "Yeah, let's head out" Audrey said as she grabbed her purse and they headed out.

The King siblings piled into Neil's car as Dinah saw her kids off. Neil brought down the passenger side window so their mother can talk to them. "Have fun, be careful, and look out for each other, okay?" "Okay!" they said in unison before Neil brought up the window, started up the car and headed out.

**...**

Meanwhile, The Shield's Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns were getting ready for the six-man tag team match backstage. Before the match, Roman was on the phone talking to his little girl. "Alright, I miss you too. Okay... I love you too, princess" Roman said before hanging up his phone.

"How is she doing?" Dean asked. "She's doing pretty good. She just misses me."

"She is so adorable" Seth gushed. Roman chuckled before asking his teammates "Are you guys ready?" "Yeah" they said in unison as they got ready to make their entrance.

_Sierra  
Hotel  
India  
Echo  
Lima  
Delta  
Shield  
_

The Shield's music echoed through the arena as they marched through the WWE Universe. As the Shield walked passed, Audrey and her siblings, Neil said into her ear "You look just like him!" "He has my hair" Audrey joked to her brother, but she did notice the family resemblance between her and Roman.

Once the bell rung, Audrey quickly noticed Roman's ruthless aggression in the ring as the Shield faced off against the Wyatt Family. "At least we know where Audrey gets her temper" Tyson joked as Audrey slapped him upside the head. But it all made sense, where Audrey gets her temperament and her angry demeanor. When Roman, saw the opening, he speared Eric Rowan, picking up the victory for their team.

"The winners of this match are The Shield!" Justin Roberts the ring announcer said as the Shield stood in the middle of the stage victoriously. Once The Shield headed backstage, Audrey followed them as Neil and the twins follow her to keep her out of trouble.

"Audrey, we can't be back here!" Neil said as Audrey searched for Roman. "I don't care!" Audrey screamed as she searched for the Shield. As Audrey wandered backstage, she found the Shield hanging out by a bunch of crates. The Shield noticed them, and Dean asked "Are you guys fans?"

Audrey walked forward as her siblings stood behind her. Audrey's eyes were fixated on her Roman Reigns and he noticed. "Can I help you?" He asked. "Joseph Anoa'i?" Audrey asked.

Roman looked at her and asked "Do I know you?" "Look me in the eye, and tell me you don't recognize me. Maybe this will jog your memory" Audrey said as she took out her birth certificate and shoved into his chest. Roman was just taken aback as him, Dean, and Seth looked at her birth certificate.

"You're their dad?" Dean asked. "Dinah King. I remember Dinah, she was a real beauty" Roman responded before looking up at his kids. Neil was a spitting image of his mother, from his complexion to his facial features. Audrey was almost a carbon copy of Roman, from her tan complexion to her facial features to her fiery temperament. While, Tyson and Vincent were a combination of the two of Roman and Dinah.

Roman was simply taken aback. He didn't know what to say to his kids. "You guys, look great. How's your mom?" Roman asked trying to make small talk. "She's been good" Neil said.

"You guys really grew" Roman voiced out as Audrey shot back "Yeah, that's what happens when you don't see someone in 10 years."

"Who are these little guys?" Roman said taking one step forward and they took two steps back. "This is Tyson and Vincent, your twin sons" Neil introduced them as they simply waved to him.

"Look, I know haven't been much of a parent to you guys..." Roman started as Audrey quickly cut him "That's an understatement. You weren't a parent to us at all!"

Seth and Dean stepped up as Seth said "Hey, don't speak to your dad like that." "You can call him whatever you want, but he isn't our dad" Neil said backing up his sister. "And I can speak to him however I want. You guys gonna tell me to respect him because he's my dad? He was never around and so I can speak to him however I please."

"Audrey, I know you're angry..." Roman started only for Audrey to viciously cut him off "Angry?! Angry doesn't begin to describe how I feel. We were kids, mom was pregnant, and you left us! You abandoned us and tossed us aside like we were nothing! Then you show up 10 years later wanting to pretend to be a parent!? That's not how it works."

"Look, I'm sorry" Roman said. "Sorry?! That's all you can say? 'Sorry' will not bring back the 10 years we needed a dad! Sorry doesn't mean a goddamn thing. And from where I'm standing, you are not our father. Just a loser with his name on my birth certificate. And as far I'm concerned, we got along fine without you and coming here was nothing but a waste of our time" Audrey voiced out.

As Audrey turned her back to leave, she took out her scrapbook from her purse, put it on the ground and kicked it to Roman. He picked it up and asked "What is this?" "The last 10 years of our lives..." Audrey said as she turned away and didn't look back.

Audrey made a beeline to the car as her brothers followed her. They knew better than to try to talk to Audrey after one of her moods. Once Audrey got into the car, she simply broke down.

Meanwhile, the Shield was still backstage, just taken aback at how Joe's daughter put him in his place. "Man Joe, you're daughter's a hell cat. It's pretty obvious where she got her temper from" Jonathan Good aka Dean Ambrose said to Joe.

"Shut up man!" Joe said giving him elbow. Joe looked down at Audrey's scrapbook and said "She's right."

"Dude, she had no right to talk to you like that, though" Colby Lopez aka Seth Rollins said to his friend. "She was right though. I shouldn't have walked out on them."

"So, what happens now?" Jon asked him. "Make things right" Joe simply said he stared at his daughter's scrapbook. "Dude, they hate you" Colby flat out said. "I know, but that won't stop me" Joe simply said as he gazed at his teammates before heading to the hotel.

Joe doesn't blame Audrey for being mad at him. They needed a father, he let them down, and he needed to make things right.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
Not exactly the picture perfect family reunion. Audrey and Roman definitely share the same temperament. Audrey was definitely not afraid to put Roman in his place, and Roman is determined to make things right...  
Read&Review  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:  
So, I have so many different ideas for this story, but it just kinda sucks that not a lot of people are reviewing. I know it's still very early on in the story, but I really hope more people review, so I can keep this story going. So, if you guys really want me to continue this story, please please review. I really don't want to take this story down :(  
Anyway, on a happier note! Here is Chapter 3! Roman and Dinah meet for the first time since their very messy divorce. Will Dinah give Roman a chance to be a father to their children? Well, let's just see!  
Here is Chapter 3!**

* * *

Chapter 03: Long Time, No Talk...

After a very eventful night out, Neil, Audrey, and Tyson, and Vincent came back home to find their mother doing inventory. "Hey, kids how was the show?" Dinah as Audrey simply barged up to her room. They heard the door slam from all the way down the flower shop. "What's wrong with her? Did she not have fun?" Dinah asked.

Neil and twins exchanged looks as they tried to think about what to tell their mother. They did not want to tell their mother that Audrey basically chewed out their biological father for abandoning them. Audrey was still fuming and the best thing to do was steer clear.

"Nothing, she just had to deal with a rude fan yelling behind us during the whole show" Neil said covering for his sister. "That's what I hate about those sports events" Dinah commented.

"Yeah, well we're all tired, so we're going to bed" Tyson said as Dinah wished them "Well, good night guys!" And just like that, Neil and the twins headed upstairs for bed.

Meanwhile, Audrey was in her room, pacing around trying to process everything that happened. Audrey had already changed into her PJ's and placed her hair in a messy ponytail. Audrey decided to looked around in the box that was in her mother's storage unit. Audrey grabbed the box and jumped onto her bed. There were so many pictures of Dinah with Joe. They both genuinely looked so happy. "If you guys were so happy, then why did you leave?" Audrey asked the picture.

As Audrey ruffled through the box, she decided to read the first letter Joe sent to Dinah when he was on the road for the first time.

_Dear Dinah,  
__Being away from you, Neil, and our little princess Audrey is the toughest thing in the entire world. But knowing that you support what I'm doing is for the sake of our family, is what keeps me going every day. Everything that I'm doing, I'm doing so that Neil and Audrey can have every opportunity to succeed. I will be home soon Dinah and I promise you that we will all be a family again.  
__Love, Joey_

Audrey sighed as she put the letter back in the box and said "Wow, what a pile of bull."

**...**

Meanwhile, Joe was still in his hotel room looking over at Audrey's scrapbook. Joe didn't realize how much of his children's lives that he missed. He never knew how gifted his children were and how well Dinah raised them.

Colby and Jon came back from dinner and Colby pointed out "You're still looking over that scrapbook?" "Yeah, they're pretty talented kids. Neil is pretty good at soccer, I mean look at all these awards. And Vince he plays piano for the Junior Symphonic Orchestra. And Tyson, he's a purple belt in karate" Joe pointed out as Jon and Colby joined him to look over the scrapbook.

As they looked over the scrapbook, Jon asked "Who painted all these?" referring to the paintings. Joe smiled as he turned a few pages, and pointed to a picture of Audrey holding up a recognition for her painting.

"Wow, who knew under all that anger was an artist" Colby joked. Joe let out a big sigh, closed the scrapbook and said "I looked over this scrapbook over a dozen times. I screwed up. I could've been apart of this" as he pointed to the scrapbook, emphasizing his involvement in his children's lives.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Jon asked. "Yeah, I mean are you going to bitch and moan about it? Or are you going to step up, be a man, and be a father to those kids?" Colby said giving Joe a nice dose of reality.

"You guys are right. I have to make this right. I'm going to go see them now" Joe said standing up, until Jon said "Wow calm down big guy! You don't even know where they live!" "Yeah, New Orleans is a big town!" Colby said pointing out the obvious.

Joe shot them a look, before opening the scrapbook to the very first page and pointed to the picture of Dinah and the kids in front of a flower shop. "Dinah's flower shop" Jon said reading the page. "My ex had a bit of green thumb" Joe explained.

With that being said, Joe grabbed the scrapbook, Audrey's birth certificate, and his keys to the SUV and he was out. All Jon and Colby did was exchanges worried looks at what Joe was going to do.

As Joe drove over Dinah's shop, all he could think about was the day he was leaving for training at the WWE developmental territory and Audrey begging him to stay.

_Flashback:  
__Joe had all of his things and he was ready to leave, until a voice behind him spoke out "Daddy?" He turned around to see young Audrey in her PJs , clutching her blanket asking "Where are you going, daddy?"_

_Roman crouched down to his daughter's height and said "I'm going away for a little while." "Where are you going?" Audrey asked with her wide eyes.__"Another state, for a business trip" Joe said to his daughter, hoping she'd understand. "Why?" "Don't worry about it."_

_"When are you coming back?" Audrey asked. "I don't know."_

_"I don't want you go!" Audrey pleaded. "But I'll be home soon. But for now, I now I need you to be brave, for your mother and the baby" Roman said to his daughter._

_Audrey took her father's hand and said "Don't go!" Roman looked away, not knowing what to say to his daughter. "Honey, stop" a voice said behind them. They turned to see Dinah standing there.  
_

_Dinah walked up to them, took their daughter, and said to Joe "If you need to go, go. Just promise us you'll come back." "I'll be back before you know it" Joe said as he gave Dinah one final kiss, taking his luggage and simply left. "Daddy! Come back!" Audrey chased after him as she caught him with a hug as he was about to get into his car. Joe hugged his daughter before pulling away, cupping her face and simply stating "I'll be back home soon. I love you" before kissing her forehead._

_He got into his car and started it up as Dinah came out and hugged Audrey as they watched Joe leave them. "Daddy!" Audrey yelled as she tried to chase after Joe's car, but it simply too fast. Audrey just stood in the middle of the street yelling "Daddy! Don't go! I love you!"_

_Dinah walked up to her daughter, hugged her tightly and rocked her in her arms as they just Joe drive away until they couldn't see him anymore...  
-End of Flashback_

Tears lightly glazed over Roman's eyes as he remembered this memory so vividly. The picture of Audrey as a little girl, begging him not to go.

He wiped his face to hide the tears as he pulled up in-front of Dinah's flower shop. He grabbed Audrey's scrapbook and got out to see Dinah still organizing flowers, with her only light source was a single light on ceiling. He smiled at how dedicated his ex-wife is to everything she sets her mind to. He slowly walked up to the door and knocked on the door.

"Sorry, we're closed" Dinah said turning around only to see Joe standing there. "Joey?" Dinah asked as she walked to the door and let him. "You look great, Dinah."

"This is a great little shop you got here" Joe said trying to make small talk, looking at all the flowers. "No thanks to you. What are you doing here? How did you find this place?" Dinah asked. "I came here to give something back" Joe said as he handed Dinah Audrey's scrapbook with her birth certificate on top.

Dinah's eyes widened and asked him "How did you get this stuff?" "The kids came to see me after the show" Joe admitted. Dinah let out a sharp breath and asked "How did they know? I didn't say anything." "I don't know, but uh... Audrey, didn't pull any punches, and it's pretty obvious where she gets it from."

"Do you blame her? Joe, she's angry, she's upset that she doesn't have a father" Dinah said, facing Joe straight on. "Well, I'm here now."

"And what good would that do? Will that give them back the 10 years that they needed you? I won't. You can't just waltz back in here and expect to pick up where you left off? That's not how it works" Dinah said. Joe smiled and said "That's exactly what Audrey said."

Dinah shook her head and said "You signed away your right to be a parent when you signed those divorce papers."

Meanwhile, Audrey came out of her room along with Neil and the twins and asked them "What's going on? Who's mom talking to?" "I don't know, I thought she was alone" Neil said. "Let's check it out" Tyson said as they headed down to the flower shop. They peeked into into flower shop to see their mother talking to Joe. "What's he doing here?" Tyson asked. "I dunno" Vincent simply answered.

"What are they talking about?" Audrey asked. "I don't know" Neil said as they listened in.

"Look, I know I haven't been there for them, but I'm here now. And I wanna make things right" Joe pleaded. "And how do you plan to do that? Joe, your word means absolutely nothing. Joe, they needed you, and where were you? Where were you when Tyson and Vincent were sick with the chicken pox? Where were you at Neil's soccer games or Audrey's art shows? Not even one phone call, and you expect to be their dad again. You know, Audrey would stay up and wait for you. She would ask me 'when is daddy come home?' 'doesn't daddy love me?' She would ask me that and what was I supposed to tell her?"

"Ok, I screwed up. I've made mistakes, but I'm still their father" Joe said. "Are you kidding? You are not their father. And, _you've made mistakes_? Try big mistakes. Oh how about this, how about I tell the kids the 'mistake' you made while you were on the road?"

Joe's eyes widened and said "Dinah, you can't tell them, not now, not like this." "Why? your mistake cost them their father. They have a right to know what you did" Dinah threatened pointing fingers at Joe.

"It was mistake" Joe said. "No, the mistake the was you coming here trying to act like a parent. Here's what you're going to do. You're gonna leave right now, you're gonna pretend that kids didn't see that night, and you're gonna forget that all of his ever happened. Or I'm going to tell the kids what you did."

"You're seriously threatening me with our kids?" Joe asked. "Their not _our _kids, their _my _kids. They were never yours."

"Dinah..." Joe started until a voice spoke out "You need to go." The voice was Neil. Dinah turned and Joe looked up to see that Neil, Audrey, and the twins standing there. "Kids, I..." Joe started until Audrey said "You need to go. It's pretty obvious no one wants you here."

Joe took one final look at his what was his family before simply saying "It was good seeing you again Dinah." "Goodbye, Joe."

"Good riddance munch!" Tyson yelled as everyone just shot him a crazy look.

Once he left, the kids surrounded their mother as Dinah kept her kids close. Dinah had spent a good part of her life raising and protecting her kids the best she could, and the last thing she needed was Joe coming in her and ruining everything she has worked hard to build. She was going protect her kids with everything she has...


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:  
Hey guys! I'm back with another new update. And I want to tell you guys this is my final update until Friday. My updates for this story will be every Friday. I might even update twice a week if I'm free. I'm starting Summer school at Northridge very soon and I won't be able to make updates whenever I would like.  
I'm also adding a brand-new character that will be coming in very soon, and I need your guys help. I need a love interest for Holly and they will have their own major storyline coming up soon. If you have an idea, please leave it in your Review or send me a private message.  
Anyways, here chapter 4! Joe/Roman goes behind Dinah's back to meet up with his kids. Let's see how this will play out!  
Anyways Enjoy! Read&Review**

* * *

Chapter 04: Trying to Make Amends

Joe came back to the hotel, and fell back on his bed as Jon and Colby were watching a movie. "So, take it things with the ex didn't go well" Jon said not taking his eyes off the movie. "Yep. She basically told me to forget all of this ever happened. And if things didn't get any worse, she threatened me."

"Whoa, she threatened you? With what?" Colby asked as they turned off the movie and gave their friend their undivided attention.

"You know, what happened on the road..."

"The thing? With..."

"Yeah. She said if I went anywhere near the kids, she'd tell them what I did." "Wow, you're ex is a piece of work" Colby commented. "No kidding" Joe said with a chuckle.

"What are you going to do?" Jon asked. "I'm going to make things right with my kids. Show them, that I'm not a complete loser."

"Dude, your kids already hate you, if they find out what you did, it's just gonna make things worse" Colby said giving Joe more of reality. "Yeah, it probably will. But, no matter how much they hate me, they're still my kids. And I have every right to be a part of their lives. It's like you guys said, I'm gonna step up, be a man, and be a father those kids deserve."

Jon and Colby just exchanged worried looks before simply turned back to the movie. They knew full well that Joe was a new life and a little girl that he needs to think about. They can only begin to imagine what will happen if he tries to make things right with his ex-wife and kids.

**...**

Audrey had just finished getting dressed for school. She is wearing a black lace studded crop top, blue/gray floral cropped kimono, light washed acid shorts, taupe combat boots, and a black pom beanie.

As she applied her make up, Neil and the twins came in and Neil asked "Are you ready?" "Yeah, almost. So what's the sudden invasion into my room?" "We're worried about mom. Ever since Joe came last night, she's been a little on edge" Vincent pointed out. "Yeah, but we need to help mom relax. You know with Mardi Gras coming up, she's gonna be super busy and Joe is the last thing she needs to worry about. We should help her out and try to help her keep her mind off things. Deal?" "Deal" Neil and the twins said in unison.

"Good! Now's let's go or we'll be late to school" Audrey said as she grabbed her knapsack and art supplies and they headed downstairs. When they got there, Dinah was running all over the place, trying to get all her flowers ready for the Mardi Gras parade. "Good morning kids!" Dinah greeted them. The kids said their greetings to their mother as she ran up to the counter.

"Okay! Lunches! Turkey and Swiss for Vincent, two Ham and Cheeses for Tyson, PB&J for Neil, and Tofu/Olive salad, apple, and Pink lemonade for Audrey" Dinah said handing each child their lunch. "And after school?" Dinah asked her kids.

"I have soccer until 5 but I can pick up Vincent from piano" Neil said. "And, I'm working with Ms. Radner until 4, but I can pick up Tyson from karate" Audrey said. "Good, now kisses and have a great day at school and I love you all" Dinah said kissing her children before shoving them out the door.

Once the kids left, Tyson voiced out "That was..." "Yeah" Neil said as the kids simply ignored it and walked to school.

Once the kids were gone, Dinah just placed her hands on her hips and just let out a deep breath as she simply stared at all the work that needed to be done.

When the kids got to school, Audrey was at her locker with Holly telling her everything that's happened. "So, she just shoved you guys out the door?" Holly asked as they closed their lockers and walked to class. "Yeah, like some crazed, organized, punctual robot" Audrey commented. "And, he just showed up? In the middle of the night?" Holly asked. "Yeah, like who does he think he is. I swear, I don't even know what to say about him" Audrey said venting her frustration.

"And, you guys don't know what they were talking about?" Holly asked. "No idea, but they should know by now that they can't keep secrets from me. I'm gonna find out, but I can't believe all of this is happening, especially now. I wish I had never went to go see Joe that night if I knew all of this was going to happen."

"Well, perk up! Tomorrow is Mardi Gras and we're gonna be partying all night long!" Holly said. "It's a good thing they cancelled school on Wednesday."

Every year on during Mardi Gras week, everyone is in high gear to get everything ready. Once Mardi Gras was over, all the schools cancelled classes the next day because not only did they need to clean up, but there is a good chance there are going to be a lot of drunk people roaming around New Orleans. And, a lot schools simply knew that no one would come class the day after Mardi Gras.

"And, you're gonna see you're best friend aka me, sing in the Mardi Gras parade" Holly said wrapping an arm around Audrey's shoulder. "Country music at Mardi Gras? There really is a first for everything" Audrey said as she held onto the hand Holly had over her shoulder.

Holly was an aspiring country singer. One of Holly's dads was born in Nashville, Tennessee and Holly and her dads would spend every Summer there when she was a kid. That's when Holly just fell in love with country music. Her dads would take her to Grand Ole Opry to see all the country artists perform. A few of Holly's influences were Sugarland, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, and Rascal Flatts. Although Audrey wasn't a big fan of country music, Holly was really good at it and was one of her biggest supporters, behind her dads.

"So, you're gonna come watch me sing?" Holly asked. "Front row."

"It would be nice if you sung back up with me?" Holly asked. "You know I'm not much of a singer. The only singing I do is the shower. But, I'll be there for moral support." "Fine, but the offer is still on the table" Holly groaned out as the bell rung and the two best friends laughed it off, and headed to class.

**...**

Meanwhile, Joe, Jon, and Colby were in the gym trying out this new cross-fit exercise. Cross-fit is a growing craze between the Superstars and Divas in the WWE. As they were working out, Jon checked his phone and noticed that it was already noticed that the high school should be letting out right now.

"Well, I gotta go. I'll see you guys tonight" Joe said wrapping a towel around his neck, getting up to leave. "What are you gonna do? Stalk your kids?" Jon joked earning a chuckle from Colby. Joe looked away as Colby asked "Really? Your gonna stalk your kids?"" "I just want to spend some time with them."

"But, do you think they wanna spend time with you? Jon asked. "I just wanna talk to them."

"Well, your ex-wife is gonna do some serious talking when she finds out that your gonna go anywhere near those kids" Colby said. "Who said she's gonna find out? I'll see you guys later" Joe said as he bumped fists with Jon and Colby before heading out to see the kids.

Jon changed out of his gym clothes into a t-shirt and jeans, got into his SUV and drove over to Dinah's flower shop.

Knowing Dinah, Joe figured out that Dinah would send the kids a school close to the flower shop, so she could keep them close. Dinah could be a little overprotective when it came to the kids. And the closest high school to Dinah's flower shop was Walter L. Cohen High school. Jon's hunch was on point when he saw Neil walking out with Audrey coming out a little later. A smile grew on Joe's face as he watched his kids goof around, like when Neil put Audrey in a headlock. When Audrey smiled, she was a spitting image of her mother. This reminded Joe that Audrey isn't always angry. Joe parked his car somewhere out of sight so the kids wouldn't see him.

Joe just stayed out of sight as Neil and Audrey continued to goof around as they always did. "Lemme go!" Audrey said as she finally got out of Neil's headlock. "I thought you had soccer?" Audrey asked as she fixed her hat. "Coach cancelled. What about you? I thought you were meeting up to Ms. Radner?" "She left early. She had a head cold."

"So, what do we do about Ty and Vin?" Audrey asked. And as if on cue, both their phones ping. "Who texted you?" Neil asked. "Tyson, he left his gear and home and can't make it to karate today. Who texted you?" "Vin, he said that his instructor cancelled Junior Symphonic Orchestra for the day, because he'll be out of town."

"You just wanna go pick 'em up?" Neil asked. "Yeah, we can do something until we have to go home" Audrey suggested as they headed over to Tyson and Vincent's school.

When Joe saw that Neil and Audrey were leaving, he started up the car and started following them.

When Neil and Audrey made it to the twins' school, they waited outside until they came out. When Joe saw that Tyson and Vincent came out, Joe took a deep breath, got out of the car and approached his kids. Audrey looked up and asked "What are you doing here?" Neil, Tyson, and Vincent looked up to see Joe in front of them.

"More importantly, how did you know we were here?" Vincent asked. "Yeah, did you follow us?" Tyson asked. Joe simply looked away and Neil spoke out "That's kinda creepy. Why are you stalking us?"

"I just want to talk to you guys" Joe said. "Funny, cause we have nothing to say to you" Audrey fired back. "Come on. Just a few minutes" Joe pleaded. The kids exchanged looks, before Audrey finally said "10 minutes." Joe smiled as they got into his SUV. The car drive was eerily quiet. No one wanted to say anything.

"Take the next right up here" Neil instructed Joe. After Joe did that, Neil instructed him "You can park here." Joe parked the car at a local bakery. "Holland's famous desserts?" Joe asked. "Mom, used to take us here every Sunday after church to get sweets" Audrey informed him as the kids quickly got out of the car. "Ohhh" Joe said as he followed the kids.

They sat at a table outside as a waitress came up to them and asked "What can I get you guys to drink?"

"Coffee" Joe asked.

"Milk Tea Boba" Neil asked.

"Chocolate Milkshake" Audrey asked.

"Orange juice" Tyson asked.

"Fruit punch" Vincent asked.

Once the waitress got their drink orders, in a matter of minutes she returned with their drinks. What the kids loved about this bakery was the service. The service at this bakery was simply amazing. As the kids played with their drinks awkwardly, Joe asked "So how was school?" "Cut the crap, you 10 minutes" Audrey spoke out.

Joe was taken aback at how brash Audrey was. She was getting angrier by the second. Joe couldn't beat around the bush with Audrey. Joe took a deep breath and said "Look, I know I haven't been there for you guys, but I'm here now. And, I'm not going anywhere."

Audrey scoffed and said "That's biggest pile of bull I've ever heard. Your a professional wrestler, your life is on the road. Your not gonna be here for too long. Lemme ask you this; if I hadn't have confronted you that night, would you have know we existed?"

Joe looked away and didn't know what to say. He couldn't help but think that Audrey was right. Over the years, his memories of Dinah and kids simply left his mind. "That says everything. What did we even mean to you? Why are you doing all of this? What are trying to prove? That you could be our dad again? Well newsflash, it's a little too late to start acting like a parent. You're just trying to get rid of a guilty conscience. This is how everything is going to play out: let's say we actually let you back into our lives and then you just leave again. That's just how it's going to be and your not kidding anyone."

"Ok, I was never around. And I get your angry, but everyone deserves a second chance" Joe spoke out trying to reason with his daughter. Audrey scoffed and said "A second chance? You had 10 years worth of second chances, and you never took any of them. So, don't you even dare think about asking for a second chance."

Joe didn't know what to say to his daughter, because he knew she was right. He had 10 years to try to be a part of their lives, and he made no attempt to. He couldn't help but think that deep down he didn't deserve to be their father. But he wasn't going to give up on them so easily. Joe was going to make things right.

"If you don't have anything else to say, we gotta get home" Neil said as they got up to leave. "I'll give you guys a ride" Joe offered. "We'll take the bus. It wouldn't be good if mom saw you with us" Vincent said as they got up and left. As Joe saw them leave, it kinda reminded Joe of how he left Dinah and the kids years ago. He was now feeling that pain that they were feeling that very day.

As Joe sat there, he started thinking back to the first time he met Dinah...

_Flashback:  
Joe was in front of his high school, tossing a football with his friends. Once Joe tossed the football to his friends, one of them yelled "Go long, Anoa'i! They threw the football pretty far, but Joe managed to catch it, but failed to see where he was running. Joe couldn't stop, until he tripped over something, causing him to fall backwards into a garden.  
_

_"Are you okay?" a voice asked. Joe opened his eyes and saw a beautiful young woman with long chestnut hair accented with blonde highlights and thin framed glasses. "Yeah, I caught the ball" Joe joked, earning a chuckle from the young woman. "Yeah you did, the prize, you crushed the daises I planted" she said as she offered him a hand and helped him up. Joe looked behind him and said "I'm sorry about that."_

_She smiled and said "It's okay! I can fix them. Oh my gosh! Your bleeding!" referring to his arm. Joe looked at his arm and saw blood dripping from it. "Come on, I'll take you to the nurse" she offered as they walked to the nurse's office together. Once they got there, Joe sat on a cot as she started cleaning his cut. _

_"Again, I'm sorry about the flowers" Joe apologized. She smiled a bright smile and said "It's okay! I can replant them."_

_"You planted the garden outside?" Joe asked. "Yeah, I'm a part of the gardening club. My parents always told me I had a bit of a green thumb." Joe chuckled as she introduced herself "I'm Dinah. What's your name?" "That's a pretty name. I'm Joe."_

_"Well, Joe, how long have you been playing football. That was an impressive catch" Dinah complimented. "A few years. I'm actually going to play D-1 football in college."_

_"Where you going to school?" Dinah asked as she finished bandaging up Joe's arm. "Georgia Tech."_

_Dinah's eyes widened and said excitedly "Really?! I'm going to Georgia Tech!" "What a small world. What are you studying?" Joe asked. "Botanical Science. What about you?" "Business Management."_

_Joe and Dinah smiled as she said "Well, it looks like we're going to be seeing more of each other." "I like the sound of that" Joe said as they just sat there and talked for hours.  
_

_Although they hadn't planned this, it was as if life had planned to bring them together. It was as if life knew they were meant to be together...  
-End of Flashback._

As Joe just sat there remembering, a waitress came up to him and asked "Can I get you anything?" Joe thought for a second and asked "Can I get a red velvet cupcake?" Red velvet cupcakes were Dinah's favorite dessert and could eat dozens of them at a time. Joe always thought that Dinah's sweet tooth was kinda cute.

"Got it! That's a real popular dessert. I know this woman who would always stop by and buy one and always left a pretty hefty tip. Such a kind woman" the waitress gushed. "Really? What's her name?" Joe asked. "I think, her name was Dinah. Yeah, Dinah, such a beautiful woman. I'll get your order right now" the waitress said as she headed back.

Joe chuckled at what the waitress said. Dinah has not changed a bit. Although Joe was engaged and had a beautiful fiance, he couldn't help but still feel something for Dinah. As Joe was busy daydreaming, the waitress placed the cupcake in front of him and simply said "Enjoy." "Thanks."

Joe took a big bite of the cupcake and simply smiled. This dessert really brought back a lot of special memories that him and Dinah shared. Although Joe has a beautiful fiance, there will always be a part of him that will always love Dinah...

* * *

**Author's Note:  
****Well that's chapter 4!  
****There are also a few things I want to address! Walter L. Cohen High School is an actual high school in Louisiana. And I'm not really a big fan of country music, but after listening to it, it wasn't too bad.  
****If you want to create Holly's love interest, just add it in your review or private message me. I will be adding the character outline up soon!  
Anyways, let me know what you think! Read&Review!**


	5. Author's Note: OC Contest

**Author's Note:  
Here is the OC outline for a brand-new character I'm adding to the story! This character will be Holly's new love interest, a good friend to Audrey, and will play a big part later on in the story. He will introduced a little later on. If you have a character in mind, just fill out the outline below and submit it in your review. The more detailed the better!  
The OC contest will be extended to 7/11, so no submissions will be accepted after that  
Also Read&Review the story if you haven't read it yet!**

* * *

Author's Note: OC Contest

**Name:**

**Birthday:**

**Age:**

**Hometown:**

**Appearance:**

**Personality:**

**Style:**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Talents:**

**Love Interest: Holly Quinn**

**Meeting for the First Time:**


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:  
Hey guys! I'm back with another update! I would've updated yesterday, but I went out all day and didn't get back until almost 2 AM. Also, please enter my OC contest, cause I am blocked for Holly's love interest for the story. Her and this OC will be involved in a big storyline later on. And for those messaging me, Holly is Audrey's Best Friend and support. Anyways, please enter because I'm writer's blocked on who his character should be.  
Anyways, here is chapter 5! Tonight is Mardi Gras and it is the craziest night of the year for anyone who lives in New Orleans and tonight anything can happen...  
****DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own any of the Wrestlers or Divas mentioned in this story. All I own are the King family, my storylines, and any of the characters you don't recognize (accept for the OC for this contest!)**  
Enjoy! Read&Review!

* * *

Chapter 05: Craziest Night of the Year: Mardi Gras!

Tonight was the night. Tonight is the craziest night of year for everyone in New Orleans. Tonight was Mardi Gras! Tonight, Audrey was ready to have some fun. After everything that has happened the past couple of days, the Kings were ready to unwind and have a great time.

Audrey was searching her closet for the perfect outfit. Audrey finally decided to put on a gold glitter sweetheart crop top, black leather blazer, burgundy mid rise skinny jeans, black suede wedges, her black choker with a silver moon pendant, stacked bracelets, and her favorite rings. Audrey curled her hair with her flat iron and did a very glamorous smokey eye. Audrey wanted to dress to impress tonight.

Once Audrey finished getting ready, Audrey put her phone, wallet, and house keys in her clutch and headed downstairs. When Audrey made it downstairs, she saw her mother and brothers waiting for her.

Her mother was on the phone and said "You guys got them all? Good. I'm glad. Okay, just mail it to me tomorrow. Okay, thank you." When Dinah hung up her phone, she faced her children and asked them "Plans for tonight?"

"I'm to meet up with the guys from the Soccer team" Neil said.

"I'm gonna watch Holly sing and then we're gonna hang out after" Audrey added on.

"We're gonna go to the French Quarter and meet up with Jake and Max" Tyson finished.

Dinah clapped her hands and said "Okay! All of you have your phones and keys?" The kids held up their cell-phones and keys as she continued "Good, now have a good time, have fun, and just be careful."

The kids all hugged their mother as they all headed out and were ready to enjoy Mardi Gras. Once all her kids left, Dinah locked up the shop.

Once she did that, her phone started ringing. She picked up and asked "Laur? Where are you?" "Turn around!" Dinah turned around to see her best friend standing behind her.

"Laurie!" Dinah said as she ran up to her and hugged her tightly as Laurie asked "Are you ready?" "Let's go!" Dinah yelled as she hooked on to her best friend's arm and they left to have a good time.

**...**

Meanwhile, Joe was in his hotel room getting ready to have his own fun. As he got ready, Jon and Colby came busting in, laughing. "Ah, you guys are back" Joe said to his best friends.

"Where are you going all dressed up?" Colby asked. "It's where are _we _going. You guys are already dressed."

"Where we going?" Jon asked. "Mardi Gras."

Jon and Colby exchanged looks as Colby asked "Really man? It's going to be a madhouse on the streets." "Come on guys! I need this to help me get my mind off of things. Come on, drinks are on me."

"Well then, let's go!" Jon said as Colby and Joe chuckled as the three of them head out.

**...**

Audrey walked through the streets of New Orleans and was in awe at how lively everybody was. Tonight was going to be a party. As she walked around, she felt someone hook onto her arm. Audrey turned to see none other than Holly.

"Hey!" "Hey yourself hottie! You look great" Holly complimented as they walked together through New Orleans.

"When are you gonna sing?" Audrey asked. "Actually, right now!" Holly said as she pulled Audrey's arm over to where the parade floats are. "I can't believe you're gonna sing on that!" Audrey said in awe.

"I can't wait!" Holly said in excitement. Audrey looked over at her best friend and she has never seen her so happy before. Holly didn't have a care in the world and simply enjoyed life in the moment. For one night, Audrey needed to throw out all her problems and daddy issues and just have fun.

Audrey turned to her best friend and asked "Do you still need someone to sing with you?" Holly's eyes widened and she asked "Really?!" "Hey, I'm only young once."

Holly squealed as she hugged Audrey tight and said "Yay! Yay! This gonna be so much fun! We better get ready" as she dragged Audrey over to the dressing room.

**...**

Dinah and Laurie were sitting at a bar having one of their infamous 'girl talks'. "So, the kids know?" Laurie asked as she drank her vodka soda. "Yeah, apparently they met Joe after the show" as Dinah downed a shot of tequila.

"I bet they were snooping in my storage unit" Dinah insinuated. "You know Audrey, you can't keep a secret from her."

Dinah downed another shot and said "Who does Joe think he is? He forgets about us and suddenly thinks he's ready to be a parent? He wants to get to the kids, he has to go through me!"

Laurie smiled and said "You were always a tough cookie." Dinah downed another shot and slurred "If he thinks he can fuck around with whores behind my back and forget about my kids, he's gotta another thing coming!"

"Yeah!" "Yeah!" Laurie and Dinah cheered as clinked their drinks and downed another shot.

Dinah wasn't much of a drinker. But when Dinah did drink, she could not keep her liquor down. With only a few shots, she could be gone. Dinah was very much a lightweight and Joe often teased her for it. When Dinah was drunk, there was absolutely no filter between her brain and her mouth. And, when Dinah was drunk, she was not afraid to make a scene or embarrass herself.

**...**

Meanwhile, Neil was sitting in the parking lot behind a popular movie theater in the Jackson Square with his teammates from the soccer team: Sean Dawson, Blake Parker, and Aaron Montgomery.

Neil was sitting in the back of Blake's open van with Aaron as Sean and Blake stood in front of them. The four of them were surrounded by empty beer cans and liquor bottles.

Neil took another swing at the beer as Sean asked "Look at that. Mr. Clean-cut is finally living."

Neil always had that reputation of being "a clean-cut overachiever." Neil excels in sports and academics, and never really acted out. Since Neil was the oldest, he made it his responsibility to take care of his mother, sister, and younger brothers. Neil never really knew Joe and for him to come back so suddenly, hit him in the gut. He was going to protect his family, and he felt like all Joe will do is hurt them again. With Joe back in the picture, Neil questioned his role in his family now. But Neil isn't going to give his family without a fight.

When Neil finished the beer, he asked Blake "Hand me that Fireball." Blake smirked, handed it Neil and said "What's got you man?"

"Daddy issues man" Neil said as he took a large swing of Fireball.

"I didn't know you had a dad" Aaron said.

Neil took another big swing of Fireball and confessed everything to his teammates "He just left. And now he's back. I mean, he has a ton of balls thinking he can just pretend nothing ever happened. He is a dick! That's all he is!"

"Amen bro!" Sean said as they all raised their bottles and took large swings of their drinks together.

Neil felt like he needed to set himself free.

**...**

Audrey and Holly emerged from the dressing room ready to perform together. Audrey was dressed in a denim buttoned down crop top that was tied in the front with a white lace bandeau underneath, black high waisted shorts, light brown cowboy boots, and a tan cowboy hat.

Holly was dressed in peach ruffled crop long sleeve crop top, black vest, light washed denim skirt, dark brown cowboy boots, and a black cowboy hat.

These girls were definitely exuding the country vibe. These girls were ready to sing. "Well howdy partner" Holly said tipping her hat to Audrey.

Audrey smiled and asked "Well, partner ready to sing?" "Let's go!" Holly said as they did their signature handshake and headed onto the float.

The float started moving as they turned on the music. Audrey and Holly singing a mash up of Sugarland's _Something More_ and _Play Something _by Brooks and Dunn. These were two of Holly's favorites songs, and Holly played them enough for Audrey to know them by heart. When they started singing, Audrey and Holly were just having a fun time up there as everyone were having fun with them. Surprisingly, Audrey was holding her own up there. Although the most singing Audrey has ever done was in her bedroom while getting ready for school in the morning, she didn't think she was amazing, but a lot of people would disagree.

As the girls sung, some familiar faces appeared in the crowd. Joe, Jon, Colby made their way through the crowd. As they moved through the crowd, Jon said "Hey Joe, isn't that Audrey?" Joe looked on the float, he saw Audrey just smiling, singing, and having fun. "I didn't know she could sing" Colby said. "Same here" Joe said. Joe really didn't know anything about Audrey.

As Audrey sang, Jon said into Joe's ear "She's really good" "Yeah."

Once their set was done, the crowd clapped for the girls as they bowed and then hugged each other tightly. When the girls got off the float, Audrey said excitedly "That was so much fun!" walking backwards in front of Holly.

As she walked backward, Audrey bumped into someone. "I'm sorry!" Audrey said as she turned around to see none other than Joe, along with Colby and Jon. "What are you doing here!? This stalking thing is getting out of control!" Audrey yelled.

"You were great up there" Joe complimented. "Whatever" Audrey said rolling her eyes as Holly spoke up "I guess introductions are in order. I'm Holly, Audrey's other half and sister from another misters. And you are..." "Joe Anoa'i. Audrey's dad" Joe said shaking Holly's hand.

"Ahhh, you're the dick dad who walked out on my best friend" Holly said giving him the evil eye as Joe simply looked away.

And out of nowhere, Dinah came up behind Audrey yelling "Honey, you were incredible!" wrapping her arms around Holly and Audrey. "Mom, how much did you have?" Audrey asked.

"I dunno, what number comes after 10?" Dinah slurred her words.

"Mom, you're drunk and you reek! Where's Aunt Laurie?" Audrey asked. "Don't be silly! I don't get drunk. And I think, I think she was at the bar. I think. Where am I again?" Dinah said as she tried her best to stand up.

When Dinah's eyes met Joe's she yelled "You!" She attempted to walk over to Joe. She confronted him as she jabbed her finger in his chest "You... You are a good-for-nothing loser! Why did you leave us? Was it because I wasn't good enough anymore? Well, I show you that I haven't aged in years" Dinah slurred as she started to unbutton her shirt, until Joe stopped her as Audrey yelled "Mom!" as her head fell onto Holly's shoulder.

Next thing they knew, Dinah passed out in Joe's arms as Colby joked "Your ex is something." "No shit, Sherlock."

"Can things get any worse?" Audrey asked only for her to hear someone yelling "WHERE IS HE?! COME OUT!"

Next thing they knew, Neil came out the crowd, yelling "I'm going to kill you! Kill you!" ready to pounce on Joe if it wasn't for Audrey, Colby, and Jon holding him back. "You ruined our lives!" Neil yelled as he waved around an empty bottle of Vodka.

Audrey held onto Neil's shoulders and said "Calm down!" She took the Vodka bottle from Neil and asked "How much did you drink?" "Just a couple beers, few bottles, and some jungle juice. I'm fine, but you're not!" Neil yelled pointing at Joe attempting to jump him again if it wasn't for Audrey holding him back.

"Is this really happening?" Audrey asked Holly as she held back her drunk older brother. Holly just shrugged her shoulders as Audrey calmed her brother down and said "Neil, you and mom are both crazy drunk, we're going home right now! Now give me my mother!" pointing at Joe who was still holding onto Dinah.

"You honestly think, you can take care of them both on your own? I'm helping you" Joe said. "No! No, okay. I'm not asking for your help and I don't need your help. She's my mother and he's my brother. I don't need your help!" Audrey said.

Holly walked up to Audrey and said "Audrey! You can't do this on your own. As much as it pains me to say this, you can't take care of two drunk people alone. So, just swallow put your pride and let him help you."

Audrey looked over at Joe and said reluctantly "Fine. You carry my mom, I'll take Neil. Holly, you have the twins' cell phone numbers, call them and tell them to come home."

Holly nodded as Audrey put Neil's arm around her shoulder and she wrapped his arms around his torso as Joe carried Dinah bridal style through the crowd. "I'll see you guys back at the hotel" Joe said to Colby and Jon as him and Audrey walked through the crowd.

After what seemed like a million miles, they finally made it to the flower shop. Audrey struggled to get Neil's keys out of his pocket without letting him fall. When Audrey managed to get the door open, she said to Joe "Back here" as they headed upstairs to the loft. When they made it upstairs, Audrey told Joe "Mom's room is the last door on the left." "Got it" as he dropped Dinah off in her bedroom.

When Joe placed Dinah on her bed, as he was about to leave, Dinah grabbed his hand and asked "Joe why didn't you come back? Why do you keep leaving us? You don't love us anymore?" "I do, it's complicated, Dinah" Joe simply said.

Dinah slowly let go of Joe's hand and leaned back on her elbows and slurred her words "You know Joe, I never stopped loving you. It's always be you." Joe was taken aback at the sudden confession of love from Dinah. Joe always thought that Dinah hated him. So, to hear that Dinah never stopped loving him, relief and confusion washed over him. "Dinah..." "Joe do you still love me?"

"Dinah, you need to go sleep" Joe said tucking Dinah into bed. "Will you still be here in the morning?"

Joe took a sharp breath and said "Sweet dreams, Dinah." "Goodnight, Joe" Dinah said drowsily as she quickly knocked out.

Once Dinah fell asleep, Joe quietly let himself out of her room at the same time Audrey let herself out of Neil's. "How's Neil?" Joe asked. "Finally asleep. Thank god, he almost hit me in the face."

Joe chuckled as Audrey asked "How about mom?" Joe couldn't tell Audrey was Dinah said to him. That will just make Audrey resent her mother and then resent him more. "She knocked out pretty quick."

Audrey let out a relieved sigh before swallowing her pride and said "Well, thanks are in order. Thanks for helping me with mom. I don't think I could've handled them on my own" Joe smiled and said "No problem. If you ever need help, I'll be there." Audrey scoffed and said "Look, don't go all soft on me. Just because you helped me, doesn't mean I've forgiven you for what you did."

Joe chuckled at the return of Audrey's fiery temperament. "Alright, well, I'll let myself out. Night, Audrey." Audrey gave him a scowl before he left. Once Joe was gone, Audrey let herself into her mother's room to check on her. Audrey fixed the blanket on her mother, she heard her mother mumble "Joe, is that you?" before knocking out again.

Audrey rolled eyes before letting herself out. Tonight was definitely a night to remember...

* * *

**Author's Note:  
Here is chapter 5! Tell me what you think? Also, should Joe think into the bomb Dinah dropped on him? Was it real or simply the alcohol talking? Let me know what you think! And, is there a slight chance of Audrey coming around to having Joe back?  
Also, please enter the OC Contest because I am completely writer's blocked!  
Please Read&Review**


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:  
Happy July 4th to everyone. Make sure to submit your submission for my OC Contest. The deadline is quickly coming. Simply fill in the outline and submit it in your review or send it to me in a private message. The more detailed the better!  
Here is Chapter 5! Here everyone is suffering from the after effects of Mardi Gras. So check it out!  
Please Read&Review**

* * *

Chapter 06: The Day After Effects

New Orleans is now officially recovering from the events that happened at Mardi Gras. The streets are still a mess from the late night partying. People are lying down on the side walk, trying to recollect their actions from the past night. But, after effects are hitting Dinah the hardest. When the sun shined through her bedroom curtains, Dinah groaned as she stirred in her bed. Dinah rubbed her eyes as she sat up in her bed. Dinah's head was pounding, her make up was smeared, and she was still in her clothes from last night. Dinah looked around and asked herself "What happened last night?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something sizzling on the stove. Dinah willed herself out of bed and stumbled over to the kitchen, to find Audrey cooking breakfast. Audrey looked over her shoulder and said to her mother "Good morning!"

"Morning, what happened last night and why do I feel like crap?" Dinah said sitting at the table. "Well, you had a couple drinks, told off a few people, and almost flashed everyone at Mardi Gras."

Dinah groaned as her head fell down on the table. Audrey placed a glass of water and an Advil on the table in front of her mother and said "If it's any consolation, Joe stopped you from ripping your shirt off in front of the greater New Orleans area."

"He was there!?" "Yeah, and he helped me carry you and Neil and home."

Dinah groaned louder and asked "Could things possibly get worse?!" "Oh and Neil got drunk too and almost punched out Joe..."

"Okay! He is grounded until he is 30! Owww!" Dinah yelled before her headache caused her to sit back down. Dinah took two Advil and a large gulp of water and said "He is in for it now!"

"Just cut him some slack! You got drunk too, so I think Neil is in the clear for this one. Now have some hangover eggs. It has tomatoes, hot sauce, and Monterrey Jack. Got the recipe from Mr. Quinn" as she placed a plate of eggs in front of Dinah.

"So, here's the plan. The flower shop is closed for the day, I'm going to the mall with Holly, I already dropped off Tyson and Vincent at piano and karate and they'll be there all day, and you and Neil are going to sleep off your hangovers."

"Audrey..." "It wouldn't kill you to take one day off from work. Now, I'm going to take Neil some Advil and hangover eggs. When your done, just go back up to bed" Audrey stated as she took up breakfast to Neil.

**...**

After Audrey finished up, she changed out of her PJ's before going to meet up with Holly. Audrey put on a black/white polka dot crop top, burgundy skater skirt, light washed denim hooded vest, dark brown combat boots, and her beige beanie.

Once Audrey finished getting ready, she grabbed her purse, and headed downstairs. Audrey locked up the flower shop and headed over to the bus stop.

When Audrey made it to the mall, she saw Holly in the front waiting for her. "Hey!" Audrey greeted her. "Hey! How's your mom?"

"She's a bit of a mess from last night." "Speaking of last night, you left your clothes and clutch in the dressing room. Be thankful everything is still there" Holly said handing Audrey her things.

Audrey smiled and said "Thanks!" as she shoved her things in her handbag. "Come on, I need new boots!" Holly said as she hooked on to Audrey's arm as they ran to Steve Madden.

**...**

After several hours of sleeping, Dinah woke up, finally recovering from her hangover. Dinah walked over to her bathroom, took off her make up from last night, and took a long hot shower. As the hot water hit Dinah's skin, all she could think about was the idea of Joe helping her home. Dinah can't help but wonder if said anything to him or did anything.

After Dinah's shower, she got out blow dried and curled her hair, and did her make-up. There was something she had to do.

After finishing that, Dinah got dressed in her light washed denim buttoned down shirt, her black skinny jeans, and her light brown strappy heels.

Dinah was starting to feel the effects of the hangover wearing off. Once Dinah finished getting ready, she walked over to her nightstand, opened the drawer, and took out a small piece of paper with a phone number scribbled on there.

Dinah took the paper, got her cell phone and dialed the number. Dinah paced a bit before, the person she called finally picked up.

"We need to talk. Meet me at Holland bakery in 30 minutes" Dinah said matter-of-factly before hanging up her phone, grabbing her purse, and head out. After a short drive, she made it to Holland bakery. Dinah sat at a table outside as a waitress came by and asked "What can I get you?" "Skinny Vanilla Latte."

The waitress nodded her head as she headed to get Dinah's drink.

**...**

"And, she was totally freaked out! I think Joe stopping my mother from ripping off her shirt in front of all of New Orleans is a good thing" Audrey explained to Holly as they walked throughout the Mall.

"Unbelievable, you think she'd be grateful" Holly joked. Audrey smiled and thanked her "Right? And, tell your dad thanks for that recipe for hangover eggs."

Audrey and Holly needed a session of retail therapy. Audrey got a few tops, shorts, and jewelry from Forever 21, H&M, and PacSun. While Holly got a cute pair of boots from Steve Madden and a few dresses and skirts from Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters. With everything that has been going on her life, all Audrey needed was to spend time with her best friend.

"I can't believe all of this is going on! If I knew all of this was going to happen, I wouldn't have never went to go see Joe that night" Audrey ranted.

"Hey, you didn't know that any of this was going to happen. And it's normal to be mad or confused. Or in your case both. Plus you have the right to know who your dad is. And let's be real here, would your mom even tell you who your dad was, if you asked her?"

Audrey looked away because Holly was right. She did have a right to know and her mom had no right to hide that from her. Holly hooked onto Audrey's arm and continued "See? So, yeah things might be crazy now but maybe something good will come out this." "Let's hope. I just need something to take my mind off of all of this."

As they walked through the mall, they passed by a music store with a karaoke machine outside and an idea popped into Holly's head. "I have an idea!"

Holly dragged Audrey over to the karaoke machine, looked over the book of songs, and decided they sing _Catch My Breath_ by Kelly Clarkson. This was the perfect upbeat song that would cheer Audrey up.

As the girls sang their hearts out, a crowd began forming all around them. Although Audrey isn't much of a singer, she always had a blast singing with Holly. Holly always knew the right things to cheer Audrey up. When they finished singing, the crowd cheered for them, and Audrey gave Holly a big hug.

Once they separated, they looked out into the crowd and Holly's eye was caught by a young man about her and Audrey's age. He was dressed in a flannel with a denim jacket over it, blue jeans with chains hanging off, and combat boots. His light brown hair was short and coiffed up.

When his eyes met with Holly's, he flashed her a smirk and winked at her before walking away. "He is cute" Audrey whispered into Holly's ear.

"Shut up" Holly said as she dragged Audrey away and laughed off at what they just did. Holly never failed to bring a smile to Audrey's face.

**...**

Dinah was sitting at her table for awhile, playing with her latte as she waited for the person she called to show up. As she sat there, she saw the person she was waiting for standing in front of her. "You made it" Dinah simply said.

The person Dinah was waiting for was Joe...

Joe sat down in front of Dinah and said "I was little surprised when you called me, though. I'm surprised you still have my phone number."

As they sat there, a waitress came up to Joe and asked him "What can I get you?" "Black coffee."

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Joe asked.

"I just need to know, what happened last night? Audrey said that you were at Mardi Gras last night."

Joe thought carefully about what he was going to say next. Dinah had all the power to make sure that he could never see the kids again. But also because he was really confused about what Dinah told him last night. Last night, Dinah was so drunk and Joe couldn't tell if she was being sincere or not.

"You just had a bunch of drinks and you passed out, so I took you home" Joe said lying through his teeth.

"Really? So I didn't _almost _take off my shirt in front of everyone in New Orleans?" Dinah asked. Joe simply looked away as Dinah pointed her finger at him and yelled "So that did happen!"

"What do you want from me?" "How did you know we were there last night? Were you following us?"

"I didn't know you guys were there, honestly. I was just getting drinks with Jon and Colby. And as we were leaving, I saw Audrey singing and then she just bumped into me. That's all" Joe admitted as the waitress brought him his coffee.

"So you've never tried to see the kids behind my back?" Dinah asked. "Joe you better tell me truth."

Joe took a deep breath and confessed "Ok, I went to see them once after school. I took them out and I tried to talk to them, but they wouldn't hear me out. Don't worry, they still hate me."

"How did you know where they went to school? I never said anything and doubt they would say anything to you."

"They didn't. Knowing you, I figured you would send them to a school that's pretty close to the flower shop. You can be a little overbearing." "What you call overbearing, I call _protecting my kids_."

"Protecting them from what?" "For starters, from strangers like you."

Those words hit Joe right in the gut. He is the father to their children, but can't help but still feel like a stranger. "I cannot believe you went to see the kids behind my back!" Dinah yelled.

"Their my kids too Dinah! I should have the right to see them!"

"You had 10 years to see them! But you didn't! Do I have to remind you that you don't have custody anymore, because the judge deemed you unfit to take care of the kids because your profession keeps you out of the home for weeks at a time" Dinah said quoting the judge.

Joe wiped his face and said "Then I'm ready to fight. If that's the only way I can see my kids, I'll take this court. I'm not going to give up on my kids."

Dinah scoffed and said "They're not just your kids! Quite frankly you already gave up on them. You want to take this issue to court, then go ahead. But, I'm warning you that I'm not going to show up empty handed. So if you want me to bring up some things that you don't want on the record or you don't want our kids to hear, then I'll see you court. Their my kids too Joe, and I'm not giving them up without a fight either" before getting up to leave.

Neil, Audrey, Tyson and Vincent are his children and even after not seeing them for 10 years, that doesn't change the fact that Joe would do anything for them. But Dinah has a lot on Joe that will change everything and will only make their kids resent him more. But unless Joe doesn't step up and fight for his kids, they will never recognize him as their father or a man.

As Joe sat there, an idea popped into his head. He took out his phone, dialed a phone number.

"Hey man, I need you to tail some people for me."

"_Sure man, names?_"

"Neil, Audrey, Tyson, and Vincent King."

"_Aren't they your ex-wife's kids? You want me to tail your ex-wife's kids?_"

"Their my kids too. Look I want to be more involved in their lives, but they hate me and my ex-wife has a vendetta against me. So, this is probably one of the only things I can do."

"_Well, I like a challenge. How long are you gonna be in New Orleans?_"

"For as long as I need to" Joe said cryptically.

"_I'll start as soon as __possible. I'll give you updates in the morning_."

"Thanks" Joe said as he hung up his phone.

Joe just sat there and drank his coffee as a million thoughts went through his head. Joe didn't want to resort to this, but what else can he do. Joe wants to be more involved in his kids lives, but they won't let him and Dinah will do everything in her power to keep him away. But he isn't going to back down.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
****So that's Chapter 5! What are your thoughts on Holly and Audrey's friendship? Also, that's a pretty interesting confrontation between Dinah and Joe, do you think Joe should take Dinah to court so he could fight for visitation? Also do you think it's right for Joe to tail his kids?  
Leave your responses in your reviews and lemme know what you think  
Please Read&Review  
(P.S More Reviews might make me update faster *wink wink*)**


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note  
****Here is an early update! I won't be able to update tomorrow because I just have so many things going on.  
Also, the OC Contest is ending tomorrow! So any last minute submissions should be sent in at midnight tomorrow. You could put your submission in your review or private message me. Remember: the more detailed the better!  
Anyways! Here is Chapter 7! In this chapter, Dinah will be dropping a pretty big bombshell on her kids. To figure out what, read on!  
Anyways, please Read&Review!**

* * *

Chapter 07: What Do You Want to Know?

It was late at night and Dinah was still in the flower shop counting her profit for the past few weeks. After "talking" with Joe, she needed to find something to do to keep her busy. Mardi Gras was the best time of the year for the flower shop. It was that time of the year where they flower shop made the most profit.

Once Dinah finished tallying the profits, she simply sat there as her mind wandered off. All could she think about was her children and Joe. Was Dinah being selfish? Did Dinah do the right thing by keeping Joe a secret from her children? Dinah could ask herself all these questions, but it doesn't matter if she doesn't have the answers.

Dinah closed the bank book, locked it up in the drawer, turned off the light to the shop and headed upstairs to the loft. Dinah entered the living room to find all her kids hanging out together.

Tyson and Vincent were watching wrestling and tackling each other on the couch. Neil was sitting at the dining table doing his research paper on his laptop, while Audrey was sitting on the island doing some sketching in her notebook for her art school portfolio.

Dinah can not keep this to herself anymore. Dinah raised her kids the best she could. She has protected them their entire lives, it is completely up to her children if they want anything to do with Joe. They deserve to know whatever they want to know about their father, and she had no right to keep anything from them. She cannot force her children to stay away from their father.

Dinah took a deep breath and finally spoke out "Kids, can I talk to you guys? It's important."

The kids looked at their mother and they noticed the seriousness in her voice, so they simply listened to her. Tyson and Vincent sat down as Audrey and Neil stood behind them. Dinah sat down in front of her kids and took a really deep breath.

"Mom, are you okay?" Vincent asked his mother. "No, sweet pea I'm not."

"Mom, what's going on?" Audrey asked.

Dinah took a deep breath and finally spoke out "I love you kids. No matter what happens or how fast you guys grow up, you will always be my babies. You kids are old enough to make your own decisions and decide your own destinies."

"Mom, you're freaking us out" Tyson commented flat out. "Well, as you know, you're father left when Neil, you and Audrey were children and I was pregnant with the twins..."

"We know that already" Neil commented. "But what you kids don't know, is _why_ he left."

The kids gave Dinah a confused look as she continued "We were seniors in high school when Neil was born and the last thing we wanted was give him up for adoption or have an abortion. So we struggled, but then Audrey was born when we were in college. We didn't drop out or lose Audrey either, so we had to pull through school so we could give you kids an amazing life."

"You guys went through college with two kids?" Neil asked.

Dinah nodded her head "When we graduated we decided to get married right away so we could have our own little family, but not have more kids for awhile. But life was still hard, we lived paycheck to paycheck, working dead end jobs, living in a small apartment. But a great opportunity came your father's way, he was recruited to train for WWE. That was around the time I was pregnant with the twins."

"That's why he left..." Audrey said to herself. "He promised to come home every weekend and call all the time to talk to you kids. He promised to be really involved in your lives as if he never left. He promised that he would come back and we could be a family again. And he was in the beginning. Calling everyday and coming home almost every weekend, but then something changed. He would call less and less and would weeks on end without giving us a call. He would go months without coming home. And when I confronted him about it, he didn't tell me anything. I became suspicious so I hired a P.I to follow your father when he was on the road."

Neil gasped a bit and asked his mother "You hired a private investigator to tail Joe?"

"Yeah, and my suspicions were confirmed. Your father was having an affair."

"He was cheating on you?" Tyson asked. Dinah simply nodded her head. "When I found out, I stuck him with divorce papers on the spot and we left Pensacola and moved down to New Orleans to start over."

The kids simply stayed quiet as Dinah continued "Once the divorce was finalized, I took your father to court to get sole custody of your kids. The judge decided to award me full custody because the court saw that your father was unfit to take care of you kids because he had a profession that kept him out of the home for weeks at a time."

"So, he left us for another woman?" Vincent asked his mother. Dinah simply nodded her head, not knowing what to say.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Audrey asked, not even making eye contact with her mother. "I wanted to, but I was trying to protect you kids. But I realized I can't protect you kids from your father and I had no right to keep any of this from you guys."

"But you still kept it from us! You lied to us! You're no better than him! You said you were protecting us? You were only protecting yourself!" Audrey yelled before getting up and running to her room. "AUDREY WAIT!" Dinah yelled chasing after her daughter.

This was what Dinah feared the most...

When Dinah went to Audrey's room, she found her daughter simply sitting in her arm chair, staring out the window. "You could've said something to us. Just keeping it a secret only made things way worse."

"I guess, I didn't want you kids to hate your father."

"That ship has officially sailed. We already hated him for walking out on us, but this just makes us hate him more."

Dinah didn't know what to say. She has no control over how her children feel about their father. Dinah got up and sat down in front of her daughter on her ottoman as Audrey asked "Are they still together? You know, Joe and the other woman."

"I don't know, after the court battle, I cut off all contact with your father."

"Wow, and I thought I hated him before..."

"Audrey..."

"No mom, I hate him. I hate him with every fiber of my being." Audrey stated matter-of-factly.

Dinah just let out a deep breath, hugged her daughter and apologized "I am so sorry, honey. I should've told you guys sooner."

Audrey hugged her mother back and simply stated "It's okay, you didn't make him cheat."

Dinah pulled away and looked at her daughter "I know you're upset, but maybe you could stomach something to eat?"

"Actually, I'm gonna meet up with Holly. Save me something?"

Dinah smiled at her daughter, kissed her temple, and simply stated "Okay" before getting up to leave.

Once Dinah left, Audrey sat there for a moment, before getting up and grabbing her phone off her desk.

_To: HollyBee!  
Frm: AudreyQueen  
Is your regular hair guy still open for a late night hair session?_

Audrey waited for a little while, Holly replied saying that her hairstylist was available. After that, Audrey quickly grabbed her hoodie, her headphones, and head out. Once Audrey left the shop, she put her hood on, and got on the bus. Audrey was alone on that bus ride, so that gave her plenty of time to think. A million thoughts raced through her head. She didn't know what to think.

Audrey's thoughts were interrupted when the bus made it's stop. Audrey got off and headed over to the hair salon. This salon was Holly's go-to place to get her hair done. Holly could trust her hair guy with her life, and he always did a good job.

When Audrey walked in, Holly's hair guy smiled at her and said "Ah, Ms. King! Ms. Holly told me you were gonna come in for an impromptu hair session."

Audrey nodded her head and sat down in the stool. As he put the smock on her, he looked at her hair and asked "What should we do with this beautiful hair?"

"Something different..." Audrey said cryptically as he smiled and got to work.

That's what Audrey really needed: something different. Audrey needed a clean slate and something new. So she was going to start with her hair.

As Audrey was getting her hair done, unknown to her, there was someone outside watching her. There was a man, in a dark car watching Audrey, taking photos of her on his phone. Once he got enough pictures, he emailed a few of them out before simply driving away.

**...**

Meanwhile, Joe was at the gym working on a brand-new cross fit exercise with Colby and Jon. After everything with Dinah, Joe needed to get his mind off of everything. After working out for several hours, Joe decided to take a break.

Joe sat down on the bench and checked his phone, to see an email with the subject _You got some talented kids_.

He opened the email and saw a bunch of pictures of Neil, Audrey, Tyson, and Vincent. A lot of the pictures were of them at school, or Neil at soccer, Audrey in art, Tyson at karate, or Vincent at piano.

Joe simply went threw the pictures and a smile grew on his face. Joe knew what he was doing was wrong, but at this point he was pretty desperate to get to know his kids.

"Hey man! Are you coming back?!" Jon yelled for Joe. Joe quickly locked his phone and said "Yeah! I'm coming!" before heading back to his workout.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
****That's a pretty big bombshell! It simply added more fuel to the fire. Do you think it's fair for Dinah to keep Joe's affair a secret from the kids?  
****Also, it seems Joe is having someone tail the kids for him. Do you think he's doing the right thing?  
Tell me your thoughts in your review!  
Also don't forget to send in your OC submissions and catch up with the story if you haven't already!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:  
****Here is a brand-new update! Also, the OC Contest is over! I got a lot of submissions in my inbox and the character will be featured in the next chapter. He will play a bigger role as the story goes on.  
Here is chapter 8! It's Parent's Night and Joe will have a first hand look at what Neil and Audrey's futures will be looking like. But do you think he can go through Parent's Night without his kids' knowledge? Read on and find out!  
WARNING: LONG CHAPTER ALERT!  
Also, please Read&Review**

* * *

Chapter 08: New Day, New Me

Neil, Tyson, and Vincent were at the kitchen table having breakfast as Dinah finished cooking breakfast. Once Dinah finished making breakfast, she joined her kids for breakfast. After the bomb Dinah dropped, everyone was simply trying to get back to their regular lives.

"Where's Audrey? She's gonna be late for school" Dinah asked as she placed breakfast on the table.

"She's probably finishing getting ready" Neil said as he took a big bite of his fruit.

"AUDREY! BREAKFAST!" Dinah yelled for her daughter as she sat down to join her kids.

Meanwhile, Audrey was in her bedroom finishing up getting ready for school. Audrey was dressed in an army green/dark red long sleeve crop top, a dark wash denim vest, a white lace skater skirt, and her dark brown combat boots.

As Audrey finished up with her make up, her eyes wandered down to her art portfolio and a brochure for the Amsterdam School of the Arts. Audrey picked up the brochure and simply stared at it with a stary look in her eyes. After everything that's happened, Audrey was determined to put everything behind her.

When Audrey was finished daydreaming, she grabbed her portfolio and shoved it in her knapsack along with the brochure and headed to the kitchen.

Once Audrey made it to the kitchen, she sat down and began to serve herself breakfast as her family simply stared at her with wide eyes.

Audrey's once long dark brown hair was now a caramel honey color with light brown highlights throughout her hair. Her hair was also layered and is a lot shorter but not too short. Audrey also has peak-a-boo streaks that were mint green, dusty rose, dark blue, and light purple on the left side of her hair. Audrey also got a pretty heavy side bangs as well. This was a drastic change from the hairstyle she had before.

"What?" Audrey asked her family.

"Audrey, what did you do with your hair?" Tyson asked flat out.

Audrey took a few strands of hair, examined it and said "I just needed a change, something different. Plus, Holly's hair guy was available last night for an impromptu hair session."

"Well, I like it" Dinah commented as she took a big sip of her coffee.

A smile crept onto Audrey's face as they continued eating their breakfast. As Dinah cut into her eggs, she informed her kids "I got the email a few days ago. Neil, Audrey I don't know if I can make it to your Parent's Night. I have a flower show in Lafayette that same night."

Parent's Night was the one night of the year where parents can see first hand their children's academic performance. The parents are able to attend all their child's classes as well as speak to their child's respective counselors to talk about their academic progress. The parents are able to see their child's chances at getting into university and discuss their child's options for the future.

"It's alright mom" Audrey said.

"Yeah, we understand if you're busy" Neil added, agreeing with his sister.

Neil and Audrey knew how demanding their mother's job can be. They know that everything their mother does, is so they can have better lives and have every opportunity to succeed. But despite how busy she can be, Dinah tries to be very involved in her children's lives. Dinah will be willing to sacrifice anything for children if it means giving them a better future.

"So, what are you kids doing at Parents Nights?" Dinah asked.

"I'm going to help sign in Parents as a part of Student Council and then the soccer team is going to a demo" Neil said.

"And, I'm singing with Holly tonight to end the evening. Holly's dad thinks it would be a great way to promote the music program" Audrey added on.

"Well, I'll try to make it" Dinah smiled.

The kids nodded their heads, as Audrey looked at her phone and said "I gotta go. I need to send something off to the post office and then I'll head to school" as she got up, placed her dish in the sink, and grabbed a juice and apple out of the fridge before heading out.

"Bye honey!" Dinah yelled.

"I'll see you guys later!" Audrey said as she headed out.

After a short walk, Audrey finally made it to the post office. Audrey looked at her art portfolio along with her application before dropping it into the mailbox. After doing that, Audrey simply stood there before heading to school. Audrey needed to move on with her life. There was no way she was going to let Joe affect her future.

**...**

Joe was at the airport with Colby and Jon, to see them off to the next city. Joe has decided to say in New Orleans for awhile to try to mend the broken ties between him and his family.

"So, where are you guys headed?" Joe asked his teammates.

"Phoenix" Jon said.

Joe nodded his head as Colby asked him "How long are you gonna stay?"

"As long as it takes, I guess. I'm staying with a friend, he has a spare room. Hunter granted my time off. Their gonna write it off as I got injured during our match at Extreme Rules against the Wyatts."

Jon and Colby nodded their heads, as Jon asked "So, do Caroline and Zara know? About Dinah and the kids?"

"Not yet, it's complicated." Joe simply said with a chuckle. "When aren't things?" Jon joked.

"Just take care man. We'll see you when you get back" Colby said as Joe exchanged fist bumps with them as they headed off onto to the plane.

Just when Jon and Colby were gone, Joe got a message on his phone. Joe quickly read the message and simply head out.

After a quick drive, Joe finally made it to the house he was staying. Joe let himself in, and headed over to the kitchen. "I got your message."

"Took you long enough" he joked as he tossed a water bottle over at Joe.

Joe was staying with Private Investigator Jake Rawson. Jake was the private eye Dinah had tail Joe when he was on the road, that was how Joe already knew him. Joe and Jake managed to form an interesting friendship over this past number of weeks. Since Jake had a spare room, he invited Joe to stay with him.

"So, what did you find out?"

"Well, it seems Walter L. Cohen High School is hosting Parent's Night tonight"

"Ok, but I'm pretty sure Dinah will be there. I mean, you know how she gets when it comes to the kids' education."

Jake placed a flier in front of Joe and he read it out loud "The Lafayette Flower Show?"

"Yes, and I did more digging and Dinah will be presenting a booth there tonight."

"So..."

"So, if you want to get to know your kids, this might be a good place to start."

**...**

Audrey was at her locker, until Holly came up to her and said "I am actually excited for Parent's Night tonight, which is totally weird."

Audrey turned to her and Holly's eyes widened. "Your hair..." was all Holly could say.

"Yeah, do you like? I think your hair guy did an awesome job. I can see why you love him so much."

"I... LOVE!" Holly said before jumping straight into Audrey's arms. Audrey laughed as they simply laughed.

Once they pulled away, they linked arms as Holly said "I am really excited for tonight!"

"How can I miss the chance to sing with my best friend?" Audrey stated as the two best friends laughed as they walked the halls. As they walked, they bumped into none other than; Holly's other father: Mr. Chandler. Mr. Chandler is the music teacher at their school and a very big advocate for their school's music program. Mr. Chandler believed in kids using music as a way to express themselves. Although there are moments that Holly can be a little embarrassed that both her parents work at her school, but she loves them so much and enjoys having them around.

"Hey, girls!" Mr. Chandler greeted the girls.

"Hey, Mr. Chandler."

"Hey dad!"

"So, I am very excited for you girls to sing tonight. I was thinking maybe you girls should sing _Little White Church _by Little Big Town. What do you girls think?" Mr Chandler asks.

"I LOVE IT!" Holly exclaimed in a sing-song voice.

"Well, it's a catchy song. And Holly has played it enough for me to know it" Audrey added.

"Great! I'll see you girls later to practice" Mr. Chandler said as he walked away.

"When are your dads getting married already?" Audrey asks.

"I hope soon enough. I still can't believe Louisiana will not recognize same-sex marriage. It's insane!"

"Well, I hear California is beautiful this time of year" Audrey said with a smile as they headed off to class.

**...**

After a long day of rehearsals and school, the kids arrived home to find their mother already gone. Audrey went to the counter and found a note from their mother.

_Kids,  
I had to leave early to help set up my booth for the flower show. I will try to make it to Parents Night tonight!  
I love you guys!  
-Mom_

The kids simply exchanged looks before heading up to the loft.

As Audrey was in her room getting ready for tonight, Neil knocked and entered his little sister's room. "Hey, I'm heading out early to help set up."

"Okay."

"So, are you alright? You know, with everything?"

"Honestly, I don't even know. After everything that's happened, nothing surprises me anymore. I just can't deal with Joe anymore."

Neil and Audrey silently stood there, until she broke the silence "You should go, I don't want you to be late." Neil just shrugged his shoulders before leaving his sister's room. Once Neil left, Audrey looked through her closet to find something to wear tonight. Audrey decided on a cream skater dress with ruffles adorning the top, a silver charm necklace, her dark wash denim vest, and her taupe combat boots.

Audrey slightly curled her hair and touched up her make up. Once she finished getting ready, she grabbed her purse head headed out. As she was about to leave, she asked her brothers "What are you guys going to do tonight?"

"We're going to hangout at Max's tonight" Tyson said.

"Alright, see you guys later" Audrey said as she head out.

**...**

Neil was sitting at the check in table in the front of the school, checking parents in. After checking in several parents, Neil checked his phone and asked "Can you cover for me? I have to go prep for the soccer demo."

"Got it" a classmate said as Neil left to get ready.

Once Neil left, Joe had just parked his SUV. He got out, took a deep breath, and headed to check in. "What's the name of you children?" a student asked.

"Neil and Audrey King" Joe said.

"Ok, what's your relationship with the students?" he asked

"Father" Joe said with no hesitation.

He handed Joe the kids' schedules and said "Alright, here are their schedules. You can go inside."

Joe took them and headed inside. Joe managed to find the kids' classes very easily. In every single class, Joe was amazed with the level of difficulty that was in Neil and Audrey's classes. But at the same time, Joe wasn't surprised because he always knew his kids were exceptionally bright. Dinah did an amazing job with the kids. After attending all their classes, Joe headed over to the counselor's office to speak to the kids' counselor about their academic progress.

After waiting, the counselor said "Mr. Anoa'i, you can come in."

Joe got up from the waiting area and headed inside the counselor's office. Neil and Audrey's counselor was none other than Mr. Quinn; Holy's father.

"Well, I was really surprised to hear that Neil and Audrey's father was going to be here. Honestly, they didn't mention anything about their father, and Dinah never really talked about it either" Mr. Quinn said.

"Well, I'm on the road a lot, so when I heard Dinah couldn't make it, she asked me to take her place" Joe said lying through his teeth.

"Well, I am really glad that you could make it. So, how about we start with Neil's academic performance" Mr. Quinn said as he got Neil's file. "Well, since it's Neil senior year, everything is crucial if he wants to get into university. Well, his academic performance his past four years is nothing short of stellar; 4.0 GPA in his freshman year with all honors and has kept it consistently over his past four years in all his AP Classes. His test scores are definitely no exception. His test scores are some of the highest in the state. He is one of the students in the running to be valedictorian. You must be proud."

Joe smiled a bit and said "I am."

"And, he is also very involved outside of the classroom as well. Student council, MESA, Key Club, National Merit Scholar, and of course Soccer. You know, Neil is one of the best forwards this high school has had in years. He was a varsity starter is freshman year. Neil led the soccer team to Nationals two years ago, they took first."

"That's incredible."

"I'm telling you, Neil is one smart cookie. You know Neil has been talking to me a lot about soccer scholarships. Several scouts have come to his games, all wanting to recruit him. But, Neil is still holding out hope for the scout from the University of Notre Dame to come see him play."

"Why Notre Dame?"

"Notre Dame has one of the top soccer teams in the country, but are very selective when it comes to who they recruit. But with Neil's performance and grades, he has a strong showing for the full-ride Divison 1 scholarship to play soccer over there. Neil is really a strong candidate."

"That's incredible" was all Joe managed to say.

"Well, Neil's a good kid, now let's see Audrey's file" Mr. Quinn said as he got Audrey's file. "Well, since it's Audrey's junior year, the choices she makes now can impact her senior year and her college career. Audrey's freshman year was pretty good, she managed out a 4.0 in all her honors classes, and last year her academic standing in her A.P classes is was a 3.8, but that's still pretty good considering it's A.P. And this year, her overall GPA in her AP classes is 4.2, which is a very big improvement. Her were test scores are exceptionally high as well. She scored in the top tenth percentile in her AP exams the past two years. She's a very bright young girl."

"I know" Joe said with a smile.

"Although Audrey is very gifted in academics, she is a big advocate for the arts. Audrey is definitely a very artistic person. She was actually the person who painted the mural by the school entrance last year. Here are some of the works she did this year. I heard from our school's art teacher that she is applying to go to the Amsterdam School of the Arts in the Summer. It's one of the top art schools in the world."

"That's great. What are Audrey's choices as far colleges go?" Joe asked as he looked through her paintings. Dinah never really told him anything when it came to his children's choices for college.

"Yale University, Carnegie Mellon, and the Pratt Institute." Mr. Quinn said looking through her file. "These are just some of the best art schools in the country, and with Audrey's academic standing and her art portfolio, she's a strong candidate. And she's actually known where she's wanted to go since her freshman year, and has been working hard to get there. It's mind blowing."

"That's amazing."

"Well, that's probably why my daughter loves her so much."

"Your daughter?"

Mr. Quinn hands Joe a framed picture of Audrey and Holly he keeps on his desk and said "Holly, my daughter. She and Audrey are best friends, practically sisters. I even consider Audrey a daughter since she spends that much time with Holly. I've seen what Audrey is capable of. She has the talent, the drive, and the ambition to do what she wants. We all believe in her."

Joe smiled at the picture. This was just one of the rare moments where Joe can see that Audrey knows how to smile.

"Well, I think that's all. All in all, I think your kids are more than capable of being able to go wherever they want go."

"Thank you" Joe said as he got up to leave. This was really the first time that Joe had felt involved in his children's futures. Joe could not be anymore proud of his children.

Once that was done, Joe headed over to the soccer field to watch the soccer's teams demo. Joe has never seen Neil play soccer before and has only heard the stories, seen photos, and seen the awards. Joe simply doesn't know what to expect.

When Joe made it to the soccer field, he stood behind some parents so Neil wouldn't see him. Once all the parents were present, the soccer team ran out in their uniforms ready to do one of their plays for the demo.

Joe kept an eye out for Neil and was simply taken with how he could move with the soccer ball on the field. It was like the soccer ball had become a part of Neil's body. It almost like Neil was flying across the field. Once a player caught the ball, Neil went off the field as they threw the ball to him. Neil tossed the ball around a bit, before doing a flip and throwing the ball back to his team. Once the soccer team was finished with their demo, Joe was at a loss for words.

As Neil looked out to the crowd, him and Joe's eyes meet quickly. Neil shakes his head and looks again to see Joe gone. Neil chuckled and said to himself "Must be seeing things" as he headed back to change.

After the soccer team demo, all the parents head to the cafeteria for the performance. All the parents gather as Mr. Chandler comes out and announces "Well, the music program is so happy to have all of you parents here for our school's annual Parent's Night. We are so happy to see how involved in your children's education. We are going to end tonight with a bang, with a performance from two very talented young girls who are big advocates for our music program. Like myself, these young girls believe in music as a form of self-expression. These young girls are near and dear to my heart. Singing, _Little White Church_, please help me welcome, the very talented Audrey King and my daughter Holly Quinn!"

The girls run out as the music begins to play. The girls really enjoyed singing together and it really showed when they were together. The crowd was enjoying the performance as well. Although Audrey doesn't sing much, she definitely had fun singing with her best friend.

Once the girls finished, they hugged each other tightly before connecting hands and bowing for the crowd. Once the girls back up, Audrey scanned the crowd and saw Joe's face. Audrey blinked her eyes a few times, before seeing nothing. Before Audrey could see again, Holly was pushing her off stage.

**...**

Once Parent's Night ended, Neil, Audrey, and Holly were walking out of school together, Holly asks Audrey "Are you alright? You seemed a little out of it when we finished singing."

"Uh... yeah I just thought I saw someone out there. It was nothing."

Holly shrugged her shoulders as she continued walking. Neil tugged on Audrey's shoulder and asked in a whisper "Someone? Someone as in Joe?"

"You too?"

"Yeah, but do you think he's that dumb to show up here? Mom would kill him in cold blood" Neil said.

"You're right, he's not that dumb" Audrey said agreeing with her brother.

"Guys come on! My dads are giving us a ride!" Holly yelled as Neil and Audrey exchanged looks before getting into Mr. Quinn's car and they drive them home.

As Audrey sits in the car, she stares out the window to see someone looking at the mural she painted. She tried to examine who it was, but could not make out who it was.

The person admiring Audrey's mural was none other than Joe. Joe smiled at the mural because he always knew how talented his daughter was. No matter how much she resents him, Joe will always be proud of his daughter.

Joe took out his phone and took one picture of Audrey's mural before leaving to home...

* * *

**Author's Note:  
What do you guys think of Audrey's new hair? Also, what an eventful Parent's Night. It looks like Audrey and Neil saw Joe and just don't want to believe it. Also did a little research and Louisiana doesn't recognize same-sex marriage, your thoughts?  
Caroline and Zara are Joe's fiance and other daughter, who are in the dark about Joe's other family.  
****Do you guys think Audrey and Neil's futures look bright? And do you think Joe's actions are justifiable?  
Lemme know what you think in your reviews!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:  
Yay! Another update two days in a row! I am updating again because I may not be able to update next week because I have a lot of things going on. I am also suffering from a minor writer's block. If you have any ideas to help move the story alone please let help me out.  
Anyways, here is Chapter 9. Dinah finds out that Joe went to Parent's Night in her place and she gets pretty upset!  
Read&Review**

* * *

Chapter 09: One Drunken Night...

Audrey was looking through her closet looking for something to wear. Audrey decided to wear her white long sleeve lace crop top, gray/white tribal mini body con skirt, black fringe vest, and her light brown combat boots.

Audrey loosely curled her hair, did her make up, and placed her hair up in a half-due with a red ribbon. After Audrey finished getting ready, she grabbed her knapsack and went kitchen to get some breakfast. As she ran in the kitchen she asked Neil "Do I have time for breakfast?"

"Better make it quick or we'll be late."

As Audrey grabbed the milk carton from the fridge and drank, Dinah asked "How was Parent's Night."

"Awesome! Me and Holly killed it and I heard Neil's demo was a hit" Audrey said as she finished drinking the milk. "Also, we're out of milk" she added shaking the carton and placing in the recycling.

"I'll go pick some up" Dinah chuckled as she poured a cup of coffee.

"Tyson! Vin! We got to go" Neil yelled as he got his backpack together.

"We're coming! We're coming!" Tyson said as him and Vincent came running.

"Bye mom!" They all said as they ran out of the loft and headed to school. "Have a great day kids!" Dinah yelled.

As Dinah washed the dishes, her phone rang: it was Mr. Quinn. Dinah was pretty close to Holly's fathers and considers them really good friends. She could trust them with the well-being on her children. "Hey Nathan! What's up?"

"Hey Dinah, just wanted to tell you Parent's Night was a big success! I wish you could've made it."

"I'm glad! I tried to but the flower show ran pretty long."

"Well, it was great you had Neil and Audrey's father come in your place. He was really interested in Neil and Audrey's college careers."

Dinah was taken aback at what Nathan had revealed. Joe couldn't have known about Parent's Night. "The kid's _father_?" Dinah asked.

"Yes, I think his name is Joe Anoa'i. He was so proud of the children's work, just like any father should be."

Those words turned Dinah's stomach. Dinah worked hard and sacrificed everything for her kids. Joe was no father to Audrey and Neil. It wasn't thanks to Joe that Audrey is great at art. It wasn't thanks to Joe that Neil was a varsity soccer starter. Joe missed out on everything that happened with the kids and Dinah was not ready to give him any credit.

"That's good to know. I gotta go, I have some work to do."

"Alright, talk to you later Dinah" Mr. Quinn said as he hung up.

Once Dinah hung up her phone, she simply just stood there trying to gather her thoughts. Joe has officially crossed the line. Dinah told Joe to go nowhere near her kids. If Joe ever did, Dinah was going to put up a fight. Dinah had a feeling Joe was up to something, and her kids were going to caught in the cross fire.

**...**

"So, my dad said that last night was a amazing !" Holly said as they sat down for lunch.

"Well, I'm super glad!" Audrey said as she took a big bite of her tofu salad.

"You know this is the first time I've seen you not want to kill 'he-who-shall-not-be-name'" Holly joked.

"Yeah. I have officially decided to put all of this behind me so I can focus on the more important things in life."

"Like, your best friend?" Holly asked as she batted her eyelashes.

Audrey chuckled and said "Of course, and getting into Yale, Pratt, and Carnegie Mellon. Joe is the furthest thing from my mind right now."

"Well, I'm happy for you, my partner-in-crime" Holly joked.

Audrey laughed as the bell rung. The girls tossed out her lunch and headed to their next class. The girls sat down in their regular seats, and Holly asked "So, what happens now?"

"Let's just wait and see" Audrey said cryptically as the bell rung.

Their teacher came in along with a brand-new student and said to the class "I know it's the a little late into the semester, but we have a brand-new student. He's a transfer student from Nashville. Please welcome him with open arms."

The brand-new student comes in wearing a dark blue/black plaid shirt, denim jacket, khaki jeans with chains hanging off, and black combat boots. His short light brown hair was coiffed up and his guitar case in his hands.

Audrey smirked at Holly and said "Mall boy." "Shut up."

"Hey y'all, I'm Sean Gage from Nashville, Tennessee. I'm really excited to be here" he said in a pretty heavy southern accent. He looked out in the class and his eyes immediately met with Holly. He smirked at her and simply winked at her.

"Well, we're happy to have you here, why don't you have seat next to Ms. Quinn" their teacher said pointing to Holly.

"Sure thing sir" Sean said as he sat next Holly. Holly glanced at him and he simply smirked at her.

Audrey smiled at Holly and simply said to her "Things are going get interesting..." Holly gave her best friend a look before their teacher started the lesson.

**...**

"I CAN NOT BELIEVE HE DID THIS! I told him to stay away from the kids and now he does this? There will be hell to pay" Dinah ranted to Laurie over the phone as she watered some flowers in the shop.

"Calm down Dinah! You're going to stress yourself into a stupor" Laurie said showing her concern for her best friend.

"I can't help it! He had 10 years to be a parents and now he lies his way back into the kids lives, pretending he had any hand in the kids achievements? I'm not going to let it happen."

"How did he even know about Parent's Night? I doubt the kids would say anything to him and I know for a fact you wouldn't say anything to him."

"Exactly, that's what I'm trying to figure out. I know he's up to something. I have a good feeling he's tailing the kids and if he thinks he's going to get away with lying and following my kids, he's got another thing coming."

"So are you gonna take him to court?"

"I don't know. I mean I don't want to put the kids through that, but at this point what else can I do?"

"You'll figure it out, but don't stress yourself out too much. We'll talk later, alright?"

"Ok, bye" Dinah said as she hung up her phone. Dinah combed her hair back and took a deep breath before taking her purse, locking up the shop, and simply headed out.

**...**

School ended pretty quickly and Audrey walked back to flower shop and simply wanted to relax. When Audrey made it home, she walked up to loft and yelled "Mom?! Mom, are you home?"

"Nope, she isn't. We got home early and she was already gone" Neil said as he, Tyson, and Vincent were searching the refrigerator and cabinets for something to eat.

"Did she call you guys?" Audrey asked her brother as she got herself a bottle of water.

"Nope, you?" Vincent asked.

Audrey checked her phone and said to her brothers "Nothing. Where do you think she went?"

"Maybe out with Aunt Laurie. Don't worry, we'll see her later" Neil reassured his sister.

"You're right" Audrey said with a smile. "Now, what's for dinner?" Neil joked as Audrey shoved her older brother, as they raided their kitchen for food.

**...**

The day left very quickly as Dinah was sitting inside her favorite bar in the French Quarter, surrounded by numerous bottles of beer and liquor. Although Dinah was a bit of a lightweight, she could not stay away from liquor. Dinah has had this under control, but whenever she would get stressed or upset, she simply acted on her impulses.

Meanwhile, as Dinah was sitting in a booth inside, Joe was walking the French Quarter, trying to collect his thoughts. As Joe walked, he passed by the bar. He looked inside the window and saw Dinah inside. He examined inside and saw her surrounded by what seemed like multiple bottles of beer. Even though Dinah was his ex-wife, he couldn't help but be worried about her. Dinah was his first love and wife, so he will always love her.

Joe walked inside and walked through the bar, looking for Dinah. He managed to find her sitting in a booth in the back. After she finished drinking another beer, she yelled for "Can I have a bottle of Tequila please?" as a waiter brought her a bottle of tequila.

Joe let out a deep breath before sitting in front of Dinah. After taking a large sip of tequila, she noticed Joe and asked "Joe? Joe, what are you still doing in New Orleans? I thought WWE left for the next city?"

"I'm staying with a friend" Joe said. "One beer please" Joe told the waiter as he was quick to bring him one.

"How did you find out about Parent's Night? Audrey and Neil's counselor called me this morning. Those are the perks of being close to your daughter's best friend's father. So how did you find out, because I sure as hell would never tell you about Parent's Night" Dinah slurred her words.

"My friend has a son that goes there and he was talking to me about it. And I had a feeling that you were busy so I decided to go, to show my support to the kids" Joe said lying through his teeth.

"Are you lying to me Joe? Would you lie to me?" Dinah asked her ex-husband.

"I'm not lying to you."

Dinah took another swing at her tequila as Joe let out a deep breath and took another swing at his beer. As they sat there, Dinah's phone was ringing. Dinah took a look at her phone with glazed eyes, before shutting her phone off.

**...**

Audrey was trying to get a hold of her mother as she went to the kitchen to get drinks. Audrey called her mother one more time, only to get her voice-mail. "Hey mom, it's me again. I just wanted to call to see if you were alright. Please just call me back."

"Still nothing?" Neil said as he came into the kitchen.

"Nope, she wouldn't just go out without saying to us. I really hope she's not drinking."

"Hey, if she's with Aunt Laurie, she's in good hands."

"I hope your right, but you know how she gets. When it comes to alcohol she has zero control. "

"She'll be alright. She's a grown woman, you don't have to worry about her all the time. It's her job to worry about us."

"Your right. I guess this entire thing with Joe has my head all over the place" Audrey said they brought the drinks and plates to the living room to join their brothers.

"She'll call back, don't worry" Neil reassured his sister.

"I can't believe I'm eating Pizza for dinner and watching wrestling with you idiots on a Friday night" Audrey said as she served herself.

"You got any better ideas? I don't think mom should come back to a burnt kitchen" Tyson joked.

Audrey rolled her eyes as they ate pizza and watched reruns of her brother's favorite WrestleMania matches on the WWE Network.

**...**

As the kids were at home, Dinah was still at the bar drinking herself sick as Joe was with her.

"Dinah you need to slow down" Joe said as Dinah took another swing of Tequila before he took the bottle away from her.

"Joe why are you always worrying about me? I am not the same klutzy little girl I was when we were in high school. Why are you always worrying about me? We're not together anymore" Dinah slurred.

"We may not be together anymore, but I'll always care about you. You'll always be my little diamond" Joe joked with her. 'My little diamond' was Joe's nickname for Dinah when they were together.

"I always liked that nickname" Dinah said as she leaned against her hand.

"Ok, I think you've had enough. I'll take you home" Joe said as he took the beer out of Dinah's hand.

Dinah was out of it, but she was able to register what Joe has said. Dinah grabbed Joe's hand and said "No, I can't go home. I don't want the kids to see me like this. Please."

"Okay" Joe said as he helped Dinah out of the bar. When they made it to the front of the bar. Joe hailed a cab and when one appeared in front of them, Joe loaded Dinah into the cab and told him "Esplanade Avenue."

Joe decided just to have Dinah stay at Jake's home for the night. Joe understood Dinah's concern. No mother would ever what their kids to seem them drunk, especially the way Dinah was now. Joe looked over at Dinah, who was simply sitting there quietly as her eyes were rolling around aimlessly. Joe chuckled at how peaceful Dinah could be when she was drunk. Other times Dinah would just be loud and out of control.

Once they made it to Joe's house, he paid the cab drive, got out, and simply carried Dinah bridal-style into his house.

"I'm flying!" Dinah said in a sing-song voice. Joe chuckled as he commented "You were always light as a feather."

Once Joe got inside his house, he headed up to his room. Joe placed Dinah on his bed. He let out a deep breath, combed his hair back, and threw his jacket before sitting next to Dinah.

Dinah leaned against her elbows and said "You really care about the kids, do you?"

"I'll never stop caring about them."

"But, they can't stand you" Dinah slurred her her words.

Joe chuckled at Dinah and simply stated "That won't stop me."

Dinah sat up and slurred "You could've been a good father" before gently cupping Joe's cheek, stroked his cheek with her thumb and saying "You always had really pretty eyes."

Joe's breath got caught in his throat and the only thing that could come out of his mouth was just "Dinah..."

"I meant it when I have never stopped loving you. It will always be me and you, Joey."

Joe could not believe what he was hearing. "Dinah, you need to stop."

"What would you do if I don't? What if I did this?" Dinah said as she sat up and unbuttoned her shirt and tossed it aside.

"What if I did this?" Dinah asked as she straddled Joe's lap. Dinah wrapped her arms around Joe's neck and asked "Do you still like it when you get kissed on that little spot under your ear?"

Joe coughed as Dinah went in and simply started kissing that little spot under his ear. Joe felt his heart beating a million miles per hour. He could feel his heart was about to burst out of his chest.

Dinah pulled away and they simply stared into each other's, and not a single word was spoken. Dinah and Joe simply leaned in simultaneously as their lips met. Their lips melded perfectly together. Joe gently bit down on Dinah's bottom lip and opened her mouth, and their tongues fought for dominance as Joe's hands roamed Dinah's body. As they kissed, Dinah slid her hands up Joe's shirt as she felt Joe's well-toned abs. They separated for a moment, as Joe took off his shirt off.

Joe and Dinah's love story was already over. Joe was very much in love with Caroline, but Dinah always had this special place in Joe's heart. Joe knew what he was doing was wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to stop. Dinah's scent of tequila and vanilla was almost infectious and kept him going back for more.

Joe picked Dinah up and placed her back on the bed and hovered over her. Joe shifted his weight so he wouldn't crush her. Joe moved from her lips to her sensitive spot on her neck. As Joe gently suckled on that spot, a soft moan escaped Dinah's lips. Joe managed to unclasp Dinah's bra and tossed it aside. All their clothes managed to come off and end up scattered all over the room. Joe's lips and hands expertly explored Dinah's body as her moans could be heard throughout the room. Joe's lips met with Dinah's again, before they pulled away and simply stared at each other.

Dinah gingerly traced over Joe's tattoo and said "I always thought your tattoo was pretty sexy" before she began tracing Joe's well-toned stomach.

"I... want.. you" was all Dinah breathed out. Joe gently stroked Dinah's cheek before kissing her forehead he slowly entered Dinah, waiting for her body to adjust. Dinah let out a small gasp as she held onto Joe's body. He gently maneuvered as pleasure was written across both their faces. Their bodies were perfectly in sync and even after being apart for so long, they simply knew when they were at the brink. Joe moved just a little faster as Dinah held onto him tighter as she arched her body to get closer to him. They kissed passionately as they closed their eyes before reaching their finishing point. Moans escaped both their lips as Joe pulled the comforter over both of them as they continued to make love.

Although Dinah was drunk, there was a part of herself that wanted Joe. A part of herself that didn't want him to stop. A part of herself that never stopped loving him. Dinah goes through a lot of trouble to show Joe that she hated him, but deep down she never stopped loving Joe.

Joe has another family: a wonderful fiance and a beautiful young daughter that he needed to think about. Joe couldn't find the will to stop. Making love to Dinah felt like heaven to Joe. It was simply like their bodies were made to be together. There was something about Dinah that fulfilled all of his needs. But Joe knew that him and Dinah couldn't be together...

As they continued to make love, Dinah's purse was vibrating on the nightstand. The caller ID read "_SweetPea Audrey_"

Meanwhile, Audrey was in her room dressed in her light blue "_To the Moon and back_"pajama tank top, red/white plaid pajama shorts, white hooded bathrobe, and tall cream UGGs. Audrey's hair was placed in a high ponytail as she sat in her arm chair, trying to get in touch with her mother.

"Come on mom, pick up" she said to herself.

When Audrey got Dinah's voice-mail, she left another message "Hey mom, it's me again. This like the 10th message I've left you. Look it's like 1 in the morning and you have responded to any of my messages and I'm a little worried. Just please call me back."

After Audrey left the message, she hung up her phone and simply stared out her window.

**...**

Once they finished, Dinah was fast asleep on her stomach with her face to Joe. Joe leaned on his elbow and simply examined Dinah's sleeping face. Dinah was always so peaceful when she was asleep. Joe gently moved strands of hairs out of Dinah's face so he could see her face better. Joe brought a sleeping Dinah back into his arms and he fell asleep in a blink of an eye.

This scene was so familiar to Joe. There was something about Dinah that made him so vulnerable. Holding Dinah in his arms felt so natural to him, but he knew they couldn't be together anymore. Joe wanted this moment to last...

* * *

**Author's Note:  
****Well that just happened. So maybe it wasn't just the alcohol.  
So the million dollar question is do you think Dinah and Joe are meant to be together?  
Also, what will happen when Audrey finds out  
Lemme know what you think!  
Read&Review**


	11. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:  
Hey guys! I'm really sorry for not updating last Friday! I had a school project that I had to do and it took up so much of my time. So, I decided to update now since I just finished the chapter. Again if you have any chapter ideas to help keep the story going, simply just PM me or add it into your review!  
Also before I forget, thanks a lot to DestineeHartxo for the OC! She did a pretty amazing job on it as well.  
Anyways here's Chapter 10 and this is what everyone has been waiting to read. This the dreaded morning after encounter between Joe and Dinah  
Enjoy and don't forget Read & Review**

* * *

Chapter 10: Consequences and Confessions

The sun shined through Joe's room as the pinging from his cell-phone was woke him up. Joe reached over at his phone to see four missed calls from Caroline and text message from his daughter Zara.

_Hi Daddy! I miss you and I want you to come home as soon as possible.  
__I love you!  
-Zara_

Joe smiled at the message, before he felt someone cuddle up to his chest. He looked down to see none other than Dinah. Joe felt a mixture of well up inside him. Last night really did happen. Joe couldn't understand why he couldn't stop last night. He couldn't understand why he enjoyed making love to Dinah. Even after being apart for so long, Dinah still had the ability to satisfy his every single need.

Joe simply stroked Dinah's cheek with his thumb as he simply admired her sleeping face. Dinah brought out this side of Joe. There was a part of himself that never stopped loving his first wife. Joe could never love Caroline like he loves Dinah, is that wrong?

Not wanting to wake Dinah up, he gently removed her arm draped over his waist, quietly got up and went to go take a shower.

**...**

Meanwhile, Audrey was walking into school with her own thoughts, until Holly came up to her and asked "Any word from your Mom?"

Audrey hooked onto Holly's arm and said "Nothing. She won't reply to any my messages. I'm seriously hoping she'll be back at the shop once I get out from school."

"Maybe she spent the night at your Aunt Laurie's? Maybe they went out drinking."

"Please, my Aunt Laurie would never let my mother near alcohol with a 10ft pole, especially after the Mardi Gras incident."

"You think Joe has anything to do with this?"

"I sure as hell hope not. And can we please find something else to talk about other than my bastard father?" Audrey asked and as if on cue, Sean drove up on his motorcycle. He parked his motorcycle, took off his helmet, and glanced over at Holly and winked at her before heading the other way into school.

"Well, how's the new guy?" Audrey said nudging Holly.

"Please, Sean Gage is a cocky, self-righteous..."

"Hot, country rocker, with a pretty sexy accent, guitar, and motorcycle. Plus, can you really say that stuff about him? I mean you do barely know him"

"Believe me, I had a few conversations with the guy and my brain literally just clicked off."

"Well, you never know..." Audrey said in a sing-song tone

"Come on!" As Holly dragged Audrey into school.

**...**

Dinah groaned as the sun shined in her face. She pushed the mess of hair out of her face before looking around her and asking herself "How much did I drink?"

Dinah sat up, holding the comforter to her chest and asked herself freaking out "Where am I?" before looking around the room to see her clothes everywhere. "What did I do last night?"

And as if on cue, Joe came out of the bathroom in just a pair of basketball shorts and no shirt. Dinah gasped before yelling "You! Did you rape me? How could you?! Owww" as her hangover headache pounded on her skull.

Joe chuckled and said "Good morning to you too sunshine."

"Joe what happened last night? And why are my clothes everywhere?" Dinah asked freaking out.

"What do you think happened last night?" Joe said handing Dinah an Advil and a bottle of water. Dinah took it the medicine and large swing of water and said "Did we?"

Joe nodded his head and her head fell and asked "Can I at least have my phone?"

Joe handed Dinah her cell-phone and groaned, saying "10 missed call from Audrey. Oh my god."

Joe looked at Dinah and asked in all seriousness "Did you mean all that stuff you said last night? About you still loving me? And me being a good dad?"

"Joe I was drunk! I don't mean half the stuff I say when I'm drunk" Dinah argued.

"Dinah, we all know when you're drunk you have no filter between your mouth and your brain."

"Joe, did honestly think I wanted to sleep with you?"

"Well, it sounded like last night you were enjoying yourself."

Dinah gave him a look, smacked his chest, and said "No one can know about this! No one!"

"You think I want people to know about this?"

"Good, but I swear if you go anywhere near the kids, you'll be in for it!" Dinah threatened him.

"Well then if you don't let me near the kids, I guess I'll have to tell them about your little alcohol party for one last night and our little after party afterwards" Joe threatened back.

"You wouldn't dare. Are you threatening me?"

"Not so great when it happens to you."

"Like it or not, your going nowhere near our kids, I'll make sure of it. Now get out so I can get dressed."

"It's not like I didn't see everything already" Joe joked as Dinah pointed at the door. Joe chuckled before heading off to the bathroom. Dinah put on her clothes from before, fixed her hair with a comb she had in her purse, grabbed her clutch and headed out.

As Dinah let herself out the house, she wandered into the kitchen. As she stood in the kitchen, she noticed a folder on the kitchen table labeled _Kings_. Dinah was curious at why her last name was on that folder. She opened the folder to see numerous pictures of Audrey, Neil, Tyson, and Vincent. Pictures of them at school, out with friends, and pictures of them at their separate after school activities. The question Dinah couldn't stop asking herself was why Joe had all this...

"What the..." Dinah asked as Joe yelled "Dinah! Are you still here!?"

"I'm just leaving!" Dinah yelled as she took a picture of Audrey and shoved in her purse before placing the rest of the pictures in the folder. And with that, Dinah was out the door.

**...**

School finished and the kids had finished all their activities and decided to meet up so they can go home together. When they got home to the shop, they found Dinah watering flowers. "Mom!" the twins yelled as they ran into their mother's arms.

"Mom, when did you get home?" Neil asked as he kissed his mother's cheek.

"This morning, I spent the night at your Aunt Laurie's."

"Told ya" Neil said as he nudged his sister.

Audrey just examined her mother and could tell something was off with her, she couldn't explain what. Her mother wouldn't just go out without saying anything to them. Her mother was hiding something. Audrey decided to brush it off and said "Well, I'm gonna go do some homework" as she kissed her mother's cheek before headed upstairs as her brother's followed her.

Dinah looked at her kids and just let out a deep sigh as she continued working. Dinah had a choice to make: _tell her kids what she did before Joe does_ or _just keep quiet and risk Joe telling the kids behind her back_.

**...**

Later that day, after a long day of working out, Joe came back home to see Jake in the kitchen on his laptop. "Hey" Joe said as he got a bottled water of the refrigerator.

"So anything new?" Joe asked as he sat next to Jake.

"Well, Neil has a soccer game this Friday. And I made a few phone calls and I found out a scout from the University of Notre Dame is going to be there to watch him play."

"Really?"

Jake nodded his head as Joe said "I need to be more careful. Dinah asked me about Parent's Day. She's getting suspicious."

"Well, you better be careful man. Dinah has a hard time letting things go."

"Sounds like Audrey..." Joe joked as they both chuckled.

"Just be careful, I don't think I can do anything if you get caught..."

**...**

"So, you lied to them?" Laurie asked over the phone to Dinah. After dinner, Dinah was on the couch spilling her guts out to Laurie. Dinah couldn't keep this to herself, she needed to talk to someone.

"I had to, if they knew what I did with Joe, they'll never forgive me. I mean they're still kinda mad that I kept what Joe did a secret" Dinah said as she sat on the couch.

"I still can't believe you slept with him."

"It was the alcohol and now he has leverage!"

"Well, you can't keep it a secret, cause Audrey will find out. You know her, you can't keep anything from her."

"Believe me, I think she's onto me. I just felt it when the kids came home from school."

"Did you like it? You know, the whole thing with Joe?" Laurie asked curiously.

"Is it bad that I did?"

Laurie gasped as Dinah continued "I mean all of it felt so natural. I know it's wrong but it felt good. But I still can't forgive him for what he's done. Is that wrong?"

"Honestly, I bet your just confused. I mean the whole thing with him has resurfaced at you just have a hard time handling it. But it doesn't make you a bad person" Laurie reasoned out.

"Maybe, I just feel really bad because what if he's with someone? I don't want to be a home-wrecker."

"What if he's not? Then you're not a home-wrecker. Just don't stress out or your gonna get the better end of tequila bottle."

"Ok, besides that's not the only thing I'm freaking out about. When I was leaving Joe's house, I found a folder with the word _Kings _written on the front. I looked inside and I saw a bunch of pictures of the kids. It looks like he's having someone follow them."

"Seriously?!"

"After everything, I just feel like the only thing I can do now is take him to court. At least that way he will be legally obligated to stay away from the kids."

"But, if you do, he was leverage too. Chances are he's gonna bring up on the record that you two slept together. If you take him to court, it's gonna be a real battle."

"I know it's just at this point, I don't know what else to do."

"Well, you'll figure it out. Look I gotta go, I'll call you in the morning."

"Alright, I'll talk to you in the morning" Dinah said as she hung up the phone.

Once Dinah hung up the phone, she sent a quick message to a number on her phone before quickly locking it. Audrey came to the living room and said "Hey mom, can we talk?"

"Yeah, honey. What do you wanna talk about?" Dinah asked as Audrey sat down next to her mother. "Mom, where _did_ you go last night? I know you weren't at Aunt Laurie's."

Dinah took a sharp breath and said "I was, last night I went out and I had one too many drinks. So, I asked your Aunt Laurie if I could spend the night because I didn't want you kids to see me like that."

"Really? You're not lying to me?" Audrey asked her mother.

"I would never lie to you" Dinah said cupping her daughter's cheek. Audrey leaned into her mother's cheek and said "Ok, sorry for being a space invader. I was just really worried. I thought something had happened.

Dinah brought her daughter into her arms, stroked her her back and said "Oh honey, I'm sorry for worrying you. But you shouldn't have to worry about me, it's my job to worry you kids."

As Dinah hugged her daughter, a million thoughts ran through her head. Dinah made her choice. She couldn't tell the kids what she had done, because she knew they would never forgive her. Right now, Dinah had to do everything in her power to protect her children.

"Now, I gotta go meet up with a friend. Don't wait up, okay?"

"Who you are you meeting up with it?"

"A friend, don't worry okay?"

Audrey let out a sigh and said "Okay mom, I'll see you when you get back" trusting her mother. Dinah kissed her daughter's forehead before getting up, grabbing her purse and leather jacket and heading out.

Once her mother left, Audrey simply sat on the couch, trying to process her thoughts. She couldn't help but wonder if her mother was hiding something from her.

**...**

"I'm so happy that Zara is doing so well, I wish I could be there" Joe said on the phone to his wife-to-be Caroline.

"I'm glad! How's Phoenix?" Caroline asked.

"It's going pretty well, the guys are asking about you" Joe said lying through his teeth.

"Well, maybe me and Zara could visit you on the road sometime."

When Caroline said that, Joe felt his chest tighten up. He couldn't tell Caroline what he was up to because she wouldn't understand what Joe is going through.

"Maybe, I gotta go babe. Give Zara a kiss for me" Joe said with a smile.

"I will! I'll call you soon my love!" Caroline said before hanging up her phone. Once the call finished, Joe let out a deep sight and fell back on the couch. As Joe sat there, Jake came out dressed and asked "How's Caroline and Zara?"

"Happy, Zara got an 'A' on her math test. I feel bad about lying to them like this."

"Well hell will break out if you tell them what you're doing. You have a great thing going with WWE, I don't think you're ready to die."

Joe chuckled as Jake said "Well I'm heading out, don't wait up" as he headed out the door.

Joe waved bye to Jake as he sat on the couch, trying to process his thoughts. Joe couldn't begin to understand why he was doing all this. This is the effect his family had on him.

**...**

Jake was walking to a little cafe in the French Quarter, to meet up with someone. When he made it to the cafe, he looked around to find who he was meeting up with. When he saw who he was meeting up with, he walked up to them and said "Sorry for making you wait" as he sat down.

Jake was meeting up with none-other than Dinah.

"Thank you for meeting up with me on such short notice" Dinah said as she took a sip of her coffee.

"It's no problem, so what do you want to talk about?" Jake asked.

Dinah took the picture of Audrey out from her purse, slid it over to Jake. Jake took the photo and recognized it right away. This was one of the pictures he took of Audrey when he was tailing the kids.

"How did you find this?"

"The more important question is how long..."

Jake and Dinah simply sat there and Dinah was going to get the truth out of Jake...

* * *

**Author's Note:  
****Well that just happened, and now it looks like some secrets are going to put into the air. Can Joe keep up with keeping all these secrets?  
****And do you think Dinah do the right thing by keeping what she did a secret from Audrey?  
****Let me know what your thoughts are!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Author's Note  
****Hello my lovelies! I am sorry for not updating on Friday! I was really busy prepping for my speech final and my interview. I kept saying to myself, I was going to update Saturday or Sunday, but something always came up. So, I really hope this update will make up for it. Also, my brother has been freaking out about Summerslam coming up. And I must say, I'm looking forward to a couple of matches myself.  
****Who are your predictions for: Cena vs Lesnar?  
****Brie Bella vs Stephanie McMahon? Let me know our predictions?  
****Anyways, this chapter Dinah makes a decision that effects her entire family. Also Neil gets some pretty awesome news.  
Enjoy! Please Read&Review**

* * *

Chapter 11: Time To Fight

"How long Jake?" Dinah asked again as she pointed to the picture of Audrey walking with Holly. Dinah was going to get answers out of Jake, one way or another. Jake took a sharp breath and confessed "A few months."

"You've been tailing the kids for months?" Dinah asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, Joe called me a few months ago and asked me to tail the kids. I would give him updates on what the kids have been up to and all the events they were involved in."

"So, Joe was lying to me the entire time" Dinah said through her gritted teeth. Anger was very evident in her face. This entire time, Joe was undermining her the entire time.

"Why you? He knew that I hired you to tail him."

"That's the only question I don't have the answer to."

Dinah sipped her coffee and asked "You need to tell Joe that this little 'arrangement' is finished. You are through following my kids."

"Dinah, I'm so sorry but that is Joe's call. All I do is tail them, it's Joe's decision if he wants to call it off. Dinah I'm sorry, but my hands are tied" Jake said as he left the money for his coffee before simply getting up and leaving.

Dinah scoffed as she said to her "Great." Dinah had a feeling that Joe was up to something. Lying and deceiving people were skills that came very naturally Joe. Dinah thought she was protecting her kids from Joe, but she was wrong. Dinah really didn't think it would come down to this, but at this point she had no choice. Dinah was tired of Joe undermining her as a parent and she was going to fight back.

She took out her phone and said "Hey, can we meet up tomorrow? I need some advice, yeah I can come by tomorrow. Okay, thank you."

Dinah hung up her phone, paid for her coffee and simply went home.

**...**

"She found out?!" Joe asked as he and Jake sat out on the patio with a few beers. After everything that's happened, both men needed to unwind. Joe and Jake knew that doing something like this came with the risks.

"I shouldn't have left my findings on the kitchen table" Jake said as he took another swing of beer.

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her that it's your call if you want me to stop. It's all up to you. Man Joe, you should've seen her. She wanted to kill you with her bare hands, she was so mad. So, what's your call?"

"After the soccer game. I've always wanted to see Neil play soccer. Once it's done, this is over..." Joe said as they clinked their beer bottles and decided to drink their sorrows away. Joe can't force his way into his children's lives.

**...**

Audrey was in her bedroom getting ready for her day. Everything that's happened has given her a brand new lease on life. Audrey wasn't going to let Joe run her life. Audrey still hates Joe, but she isn't going to let her hatred determine how she lives her life. Audrey decided to wear her gray crop top, black high waisted shorts, blue/white/yellow cropped fringe kimono, and black buckle peek-a-boo booties. Audrey did her makeup and placed her hair in a messy bun with strands of hair framing her face.

When she finished getting ready, Audrey took a look at the Amsterdam School of the Arts brochure she placed on her mirror. Audrey pointed at the picture at said "It's only a matter of time..." With that said and done, Audrey grabbed her knapsack and bounced out of her room. Audrey ran to the kitchen and said "Good morning!" to her family.

Dinah gave her daughter a plate full of food and said "Someone seems happy."

"Ms. Radner told me that they're going to start reviewing art portfolios soon" Audrey said as she dug into her breakfast.

"I'm sure you'll get the scholarship" Dinah said as she joined her kids for breakfast.

"Speaking of scholarships, are you guys gonna come to my soccer game after school? The Notre Dame scout is coming to watch me play" Neil informed his family.

"It's about time!" Tyson said with a mouth full of pancakes.

"I know, this has been a long time coming. I have to be on top of my game, if I want to qualify for that D-1 scholarship."

"Today is going to be epic" Vincent commented.

"Actually, I have a business meeting today and I don't know if I can make it" Dinah confessed to her children.

"Really? This is really important to me, can't you just reschedule? I really want all of you to be there" Neil groaned.

"This is really important too, if I let out early then I will come. But just in case, I give you guys full access to the video camera to tape everything. I want to see everything. I know you're upset but this meeting is very important" Dinah explained to her oldest son.

"Okay, this game if for you mom" Neil said dedicating the game to his mother.

As they ate breakfast together, Audrey's phone started pinging. As Audrey checked her phone, Dinah commented "No phones at the table."

"Well, I gotta go anyway. Holly's here to walk with me to school. I need a little break from all of this" Audrey said referring to her brothers. Audrey placed her dishes in the sink, grabbed her stuff and said "I'll see you guys later" as she left.

"Are we that bad?" Vincent asked.

"Well, you guys have your good days" Dinah said about her sons as they ate breakfast together.

**...**

Once all the kids were gone, Dinah did a little cleaning around the loft. When that was finished, Dinah got ready for her meeting. Dinah didn't know how long this meeting would take and that's why she couldn't promise Neil if she could make it to his game. Dinah was very involved in her children's lives so it felt odd not to be at any of her children's events.

Dinah got dressed in a white collared blouse tucked into a black mini pencil skirt, her black blazer, and her light brown strapped heels. Dinah took the time to straighten her hair and do her make up. When Dinah finished getting ready, she looked very professional and put together. Today, Dinah meant business. Dinah grabbed her purse and headed out.

After a short drive, Dinah had ended up where she want to be, New Orleans Municipal Courthouse. As Dinah walked up the steps of the courthouse, someone was coming down. She smiled and said "Dinah, long time no see."

"Back at you" Dinah said as she hugged her.

"I haven't see you since the divorce." Dinah was meeting up with Lawyer Anna Mitchell. Anna is Laurie's younger sister and represented Dinah in the court case against Joe. Although Anna is very young, she is very ambitious and is always up for a challenge. When it came to legal advice, Dinah is able to trust her best friend's little sister.

"Come, we can go speak in my office" Anna said as they headed inside the courthouse. When they made it to her office, Anna sat her desk and asked "So, I was pretty surprised when you called me last night."

Dinah sat down as well and said "Well, I need a little legal advice. As you know, the judge awarded me full custody of the children, but a few months ago the kids went to go see him at WWE live taping here in New Orleans. Since then, he has been seeing the kids behind my back. He even had a P.I tail the kids too" sliding the picture of Audrey she found in Joe's house to Anna.

"Well, it seems he's violating the custody order. We could always retry the case in family court to reassert the judge's ruling. And everyone must testify, including the kids. And everything that happened this past couple months will be taken into account" Anna advised. When Anna said that, Dinah's mind eventually went to her and Joe's one night stand. Dinah wanted to tell her kids but not like this.

"Is there anything else we can do? I just don't want to put the kids through that."

"Well, there is always a restraining order but it isn't written in stone."

"So, is taking him to court the only thing I can do? Will that keep him away from the kids?" Dinah asked.

"Well from what I've heard, his actions don't really help his case. But it's your call..." Anna said.

Dinah just sat there and though of about all her options. She doesn't want to force this on her kids, but at what other choice does she have?

**...**

School was over in a flash and everyone was gathered at the soccer field to watch the game. The soccer players were warming up on the field as everyone filled up the bleachers. Audrey, Tyson, and Neil ran up to their brother as he yelled "You guys keep warming up."

"You guys made it!" Neil said to his siblings.

"Hey! We needed to come cheer you on" Audrey said shaking the pom-poms she bought for the game.

"Look, we even made you a sign!" Vincent said holding up the poster board they made for Neil. They made it pretty out there so he can see it while, he's on the field. They want everyone to know that they're supporting their brother. This was Neil's moment to shine and he was glad to have his family's support.

"And I got an air horn!" Tyson added as he blasted it so loud that his siblings groaned and covered their ears. Neil smiled at his siblings support and said "Thanks guys, do you know if mom's coming?"

"She just texted, she's held up at her meeting" Audrey said to her brother.

"Well, just make sure you videotape everything so mom will see everything" Neil said as he juggled the soccer ball.

"Got it!" Tyson said turning on the video camera. Neil chuckled as he said to his siblings "Look, there's the Notre Dame scout" as they looked at a well-dressed man sitting in the front row."You're gonna do great!" Audrey reassured her brother. As they stood there, the referee came up to Neil and said "We're just about to start."

"Alright, wish me luck guys!" Neil said as he ran to his team.

"Good luck!" They yelled as they went back to their seats. The bleachers were full of people who were ready to support Neil and the soccer team. Neil stood there for a second, juggling the ball in his hands before saying "This is for you mom" before doing a flip and tossing the ball onto the field, starting the game. Everyone was cheering as Neil's team got the early lead.

As the game went on, Joe parked his SUV just a little out a sight, so no one would see him. Once Joe got out of the car, he placed his hair in a baseball hat and put his sunglasses on and headed to the soccer field. Joe stood at the gate and watched Neil dominate the soccer field.

The game was very exciting as the day left and stars began to fill the sky. The game was all tied up and Neil's team needed one goal to win. Neil gathered his team together and spoke out "Ok, this is it! We needed to do something the other team will not expect. It's time for the play! Ready?"

The team shouted in agreement as they dispersed onto the field. One of Neil's teammates tossed the ball onto the field as Neil bounced the ball of his chest and moved with all over the field. The goal of this play was to catch the other team off guard and it worked. After passing the ball off to one of his teammates, they passed it off to someone else and then back to Neil, who made the goal. Everyone cheered as Neil's team won the game.

Audrey, Tyson, and Vincent ran to their brother and they got into a big group hug. "Congratulations Neil!" Audrey said.

"Yeah, you killed it!" Tyson added.

"Thanks guys! I just wish mom was here to see it" Neil said.

"It's alright bro, we taped the game so mom could watch it" Tyson said holding up the video camera. Neil nodded his head and as they stood there, the scout came up to Neil and said "Well Mr. King that was quite a performance out there. Well, your coach was not lying about you. Bobby Clark, head soccer coach at the University of Notre Dame."

"Wow, it's an honor to meet you" Neil said shaking his hand.

"Well, your performance was nothing short of spectacular. We've been doing a little research and not only are you a superstar on the soccer field but a superstar in the classroom as well."

"I try" Neil said with modesty.

"Well, we are really interested in having you play soccer for Notre Dame. We are interested in awarding you a full ride D-1 scholarship to attend our school in the Fall. Call me on Monday" Mr. Clark said before handing his business card to Neil.

Neil smiled, shaking his hand and said "I will! Thank you so much!"

Neil turned to his siblings and gave them a tight hug. This was Neil's lifelong goal and it was finally becoming a reality. This was what Neil was working toward and he was so glad to have his family there with him.

Meanwhile, once the game was over, Joe made it out of the field without drawing any attention to himself. As Joe was walking to his car, he found Jake leaning against it. "Jake? What are you doing here?" Joe said taking off his hat and sunglasses.

"Well, this came in when you left" as he handed Joe an envelope.

Joe opened the envelope and quickly read the letter. As he read the letter, his eyes widened and asked Jake "Dinah is taking me to family court?"

"Yeah, the letter said something about you violating the sole custody ruling."

Joe groaned as he continued reading the letter and said "And, we're due in court tomorrow. I can't believe Dinah's doing this."

"Do you?" Jake asked raising his eyebrow to him.

"Well kinda" Joe responded.

Joe just stood there with Jake as he tried to recollect his thoughts. Joe was in for the fight of his life tomorrow and he knew that Dinah was going to go into court prepared.

**...**

Meanwhile, Dinah was having dinner with her children. Dinah was waiting for the right moment to tell her kids about the court date tomorrow. She didn't want to do this, but Joe left her no other option.

"So I heard you killed it tonight, Neil" Dinah said to her son.

"Yeah and the head coach of the Notre Dame soccer team came to talk to me after the game. He wants to offer me the D-1 full ride scholarship!"

Dinah smiled and said "Thanks incredible Neil."

"I really wanted you to be there though."

"Well, I'll make sure to watch the footage tonight" Dinah said smiling. As they ate dinner, Dinah took a deep breath and decided just to go for it. She has already lied to her kids enough. "Kids, tomorrow you guys aren't go to school."

Tyson and Vincent yelled in unison "Yay!"

"Wait! It's not that I'm happy that I get miss a whole hour of Mr. Clyde's super long lecture on the mitosis, but why aren't we going to school tomorrow?" Audrey asked curiously.

"Because we are going to be spending the whole day at family court."

"What? Why?" Neil asked.

Dinah took a deep breath and said "Well, he violated the sole custody order by seeing you kids behind my back without my permission. So, I'm taking him to family court."

"So, will that keep him away from us?" Audrey asked.

"Hopefully, if the judge rules in our favor. Someone told me our chances are pretty good. The last thing I wanted was for it to come to this, but he left me no other choice."

The kids began to look down. This was their new normal, being caught in a war between their parents. "Hey, everything is going to be okay. I'm going to make sure of it. Whatever happens, we are going to make it through as a family" Dinah reassured her children.

Audrey smiled, held onto her mother's hand and added "Because we always have."

Tomorrow, the Kings are going to be going to battle...

* * *

**Author's Note  
****Well, Dinah has made her choice and now she and the kids are going into to battle tomorrow. Do you think Dinah made the right decision in taking Joe to court. And what ammunition do you think Joe will have going into court? Lemme know in your review.  
****Also, lemme know what matches you guys are excited to see at Summerslam.  
And again, I'm sorry for not updating and I will try my best to update as soon as possible!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:  
I'm really sorry for the late update! With school coming up I won't be updating as much as I would like to. But I will be giving you guys two updates because I told myself I was going to update last week but a workshop for my school came up and I was gone for the whole day.  
Here is the first update I'm gonna do. It's court day and there's gonna be a very interesting verdict that will definitely shake up this family! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 12: Law and Order (Dinah vs Joe)

Today was the day. Today was the day that Dinah will meet Joe in front of a judge in family court for challenging the sole custody ruling. But if things don't go her way, the judge might end up giving Joe visitation rights and that was the last thing she wanted. Audrey was definitely more than upset about this recent turn of events than anyone. Audrey believed that since Joe was never around to be a parent that he didn't deserve to be a parent. All of this could've been avoided if Joe simply stayed away.

Audrey spent a little extra time getting ready today. Audrey got dressed in her navy blue lace crop top, black/white striped blazer, black high waisted jeans, and light brown lace up booties. Audrey straightened her hair and did a very simple make up look.

Once Audrey finished getting ready, she walked downstairs to the flower shop to find her family already waiting for her. The entire family was dressed for their day in court.

"Why are we going to family court, again?" Tyson asked as Dinah tied his tie.

"Because, your father is challenging the sole custody ruling by even talking to you guys. He wants to be able to see you guys so he has to go to court to get permission" Dinah explained to the kids.

"What I don't get, is how he could possibly get visitation rights when he hasn't been a parent for 10 years" Audrey complained.

"That's only what will happen if the court rules in his favor. But, apparently the court system wants to give him a fair shot at being able to see you kids. He deserves a to be able to see you kids."

"It's bull!" Audrey complained.

"Tell me about" Neil said siding with his sister.

"Well, there's not much I can do. We'll be in and out of there in no time. And Audrey, watch your temper on the stand. Everything can and will be used against you" Dinah said to her daughter.

"Got it" Audrey said as the Kings headed out to the Municipal Courthouse in New Orleans.

**...**

Meanwhile, Joe was already at the courthouse with Jake ready to face the court over his actions over the past couple of months. Joe knew the full extent of his actions if he had a P.I follow the kids. Joe knew full and well the hell his family; especially Audrey, can put him through.

"You nervous?" Jake asked. "

A little, but who knows maybe the court will rule in my favor" Joe hoped as he paced around a bit.

"I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into" was all Jake can say as he put his hand on Joe's shoulder. As they stood there, Dinah and kids came in ready to face a judge.

**...**

"So Joe, can you tell the jury what the these pictures are?" Anna asked showing the pictures to the jury.

"Those were the pictures I had Private Investigator Jake Rawson take when he was tailing my kids."

"And, why would you have a Private Investigator tail your children?"

"I did it so I know what's going on with their lives. I knew they wouldn't want me to be involved so I called up the Private Investigator to follow them."

"And anytime before this did you talk to your children's mother to see your children?"

"I tried, but she didn't really hear me out."

"Why was that?"

"She was still angry that I walked out on the family a few years back. Quite frankly I don't blame them."

"And why did you walk out on your family a few years back?"

"I had... I had an affair. I haven't really been involved in my children's lives, so when I saw the opportunity to be a part of their world again, I took it."

"So, why weren't you involved in your children's lives to begin with?"

Joe took a long pause, trying his best to choose his words carefully. "Mr. Anoa'i, need I remind you that you are under oath. Answer the question, why weren't you involved in your children's lives."

Joe coughed and said "My line of work is very demanding and it keeps me on the road a lot, so that's why I wasn't as involved as I would've liked."

"And at any time during this did it once cross your mind that you were violating this court's custody ruling? At anytime did you think about your children's feelings in you forcing yourself back into their lives."

"No, I guess I didn't..."

"No further questions."

When Anna finished questioning Joe, all he could see were his children giving them venomous looks from their seats.

**...**

"So Dinah, how involved are you in your children's lives?" Joe's attorney asked her.

"I'm as involved as any children who have both parents to take care of them. My children are my number one priority and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for them."

"So, how did it feel when Joe suddenly came back and offered to be a part of your children's lives?""

"Sick to my stomach. He disappeared for how many years and he just comes back and expects to pick up where he left off?" He has no right to do that to our children."

"But is it your right to deprive your children of not knowing their father?"

Dinah never really thought about that. "No it's not, but it is my right to protect my children. And that man does not deserve to be a father."

"No further questions."

**...**

Audrey was next on the stand to speak on to the jury. Audrey sat on the stand as the bailiff swore her in "Do you solemnly swear or affirm that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God, under pains and penalties of perjury?"

"I swear."

Joe's attorney stood up and asked "Please state your name for the record." "Audrey Noelle King."

"And why do you not go by your father's last name? Why do you go by your mother's maiden name?"

"Because, I don't recognize that man as my father. Plain and simple" Audrey said as she looked straight at Joe.

"Why do you not recognize him as your father? He did he help give birth to you?" "

You're right he did. But that doesn't change the fact that he turned his back on us. Tossed us aside like we didn't matter. He abandoned us, and that's why I don't recognize him as my father."

Those words really stung Joe as Jake sat behind him. Audrey looked right at Joe every time she answered a question about him.

"So, how long have you known Mr. Anoa'i to be your father?"

"A couple months."

"And how did you find out that he was your father?"

"Well, I have a project for my U.S History class. I had to make a family tree. Since my mom didn't really like talking about him, I decided to look in our family storage unit with my brothers. That's where I found a box filled with letters, pictures, and my birth certificate. That's how I found out."

"And did you get your mother's permission to search the storage unit?"

"No. We didn't. We waited until she was asleep to search the unit. I knew she wouldn't have told me anything if I asked her."

"In your opinion, do you think your father should be allowed visitation rights? Is he in your opinion capable of being a father to you kids?"

Audrey smirked and looked Joe right in the eye and said "In my opinion? He shouldn't be allowed near us with a 10 foot pole. He left us and didn't even look back. And he all of sudden thinks that he can just come back into our lives and start acting like a parent again? That isn't fair. He isn't capable of being a parent because he never acted like one."

Joe simply looked away as the attorney said "Thank you Ms. King" as Audrey got off the stand.

**...**

It was finally time for final statements, and the attorneys' job was to sway the jury in their favor.

Anna walked up to the jury and preceded to give her final statement. "Dinah King is a respected member of our society. She does something that not a lot of people can do. She not only runs a successful business, she also manages to raise four kids on her own. Her children are very gifted and it is because of her dedication and love as a mother, while that Man Joseph Anoa'i was not at all involved in their lives. He chose his work over his family. And then he tries to force his way back into his children's lives. What he did was selfish and inconsiderate. He did not once think about his children at all and was only thinking about himself. He is not fit to be a father and it is very clear that Dinah and her kids were doing just fine on their own. Being a father is a honor and privilege must be earned, and Joesph Anoa'i has done nothing to earn this privilege."

Once Anna finished, Joe's attorney walked up to the jury to give his final statement. "Joesph Anoa'i is a gifted athlete. It is true that He has a career that keeps him on the road months at a time, but what he does is for the sake of his family. There is no denying what he has done to his family in the past but he is repentant of his actions. There is no denying that what he has done is because he loves his children very much. He did what any father would have done to be with his children. Don't let his vindictive ex-wife blind your decision. It is very clear that she is doing this get back at him for what he has done. This man would go to the end of the Earth to be a part of his children's lives. Yes, being a parent is a privilege that must be earned, and it's pretty clear that he has earned it."

**...**

After hearing all the testimonies, the jury deliberated while both parties waited. Once the jury finished deliberating, the bailiff handed the decision to the judge and asked "All rise" which both parties did.

"After reviewing the testimonies of all members of both parties, the jury has come to a decision that is more than fair. In the end, these children's well-being is the main priority. Although the actions of you Mr. Anoa'i of leaving behind your pregnant wife and young children and having them tailed by a private investigator is reprehensible, that does not change the fact that under the law, you are these children biological father..." judge said

Audrey stood up and yelled "Are you kidding me!?" only for Neil to calm her down.

"Which means, Mr. Anoa'i has the right to see his children. But, after being out of these children's lives for several years as well as having a line of work that keeps you traveling and out of the home for weeks at a time, your capability can be questioned. So, Mr. Anoa'i you may be given visitation rights, but they must be earned. We will not simply give them to you..." the judge continued.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked.

"I am reversing my ruling and I will order the children into the custody of Mr. Anoa'i for one month to see if he is fully capable of taking care of these children, effective tomorrow..." the judge ordered as Dinah stood up and said "But, your honor!"

"With weekly visits from a court appointed social worker. After the duration of the one month, we will meet again and hear from both parties as well the social worker, and then we will decide if Mr. Anoa'i deserves visitation rights or not. Case dismissed" the judge said as she banged her gavel.

As Dinah and the kids left, Audrey complained "So, we have to stay with that dick for one month under the law? That is not fair. This is a bastardized decision."

"Is she really thinking that she's setting a precedent?" Neil asked.

"I talked to the judge, this is her ruling, and she's not changing her mind. She says that it seems Joe is repentant of what he's done and he has every opportunity to be the kids' father" Anna said walking up to the Kings.

"Great..." Audrey said as she walked away with her brothers following her.

Dinah just stood there as Joe came out with Jake. Dinah marched up to him, pushed him in the chest, and yelled "Is this what you wanted? To take my kids from me?"

"They're my kids too" Joe said not backing down.

Dinah chuckled and said "We'll see about that. Once this 'little experiment' is over, the judge see that you are not capable of being a father and you'll never be allowed near again" before walking away.

Joe just stood there with Jake. His ex-wife was determined, but he was more than determined to make things right. He was given a second chance to make things right and he was going to take it.

**...**

After the disaster in court, Audrey changed out her clothes into PJ's and started packing for her one month with Joe. As Audrey packed, she was talking to Holly on Skype, catching her up on everything that just happened.

"So, now you have to live with him for a month?" Holly asked.

"Yeah, I mean I won't be able to go to school, but we'll be doing all our studying online so we won't fall behind. But this is still jacked up! He' leaves for 10 years and he's still a parent under the law" Audrey vented as she threw clothes into her suitcase.

"I still can't believe I'm not gonna have my best friend for one month" Holly complained.

"Same here, but this little experiment that the judge is up to, isn't gonna last" Audrey said sitting in front of her laptop.

"Look, I gotta go! I need finish packing, but I'll text you tomorrow night and I'll Skype you tomorrow night."

"Alright. Good luck my partner-in-crime!" Holly said before signing off.

Once Audrey closed her laptop, she put it in her backpack along with a few books, her favorite scrapbook, a few beauty and personal hygiene stuff. Next Audrey put the rest of her clothes in her suitcase and zipped it up. Once that was done, Audrey put all her art supplies in her carry-on. Once Audrey finished packing everything, she put all her luggage in the corner of her bedroom.

Everything in her life was going just fine until she screwed it all up by bringing her father back into their lives. Audrey couldn't help but feel guilty that she dragged her family into this mess.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
****Well, this is going to be very interesting. I don't want to get all technical with all the law stuff, but I kinda wanted this to happen because I have a lot of ideas for this.  
Well it's pretty clear that Dinah and Joe were holding back in court, but Audrey had no problem speaking her mind. Now Joe got what he wanted, but at what cost? Joe is now on for the fight of his life. All the wrestling training in the world can not prepare him for this  
Anyways, Read&Review and let me know!  
**


	14. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:  
Sorry for the late update, but I kinda wanted to post up another chapter before I head back to school. I really don't have much to say but I really hope you guys like this chapter!  
This chapter is Joe's first night with the kids on the road. Let's see how that turns out.  
Enjoy Read&Review**

* * *

Chapter 13: Heading Out

Audrey woke up rather early because she knew today was the day she was going to stay with her father. Audrey took one last look at her family photo before putting it in her backpack and getting ready.

Audrey put on her blue London graphic crop top with her black army jacket over it, black high waisted shorts, grey knee socks, her dark brown tall riding boots, and her dark red beanie. Audrey decided to leave hair naturally wavy and did a simple make up look. Once Audrey did that, she stacked her bracelets, grabbed her luggage and headed downstairs to the flower shop. As she walked down, she found Neil and the twins down already with their stuff.

"Ok, with all of you here, Joe will be here in a few minutes. I will see you guys soon and I will call you every night. And try to stay out of trouble, this means you Audrey and Tyson" Dinah said as she stood in front of her kids. The kids smiled as they got into one big group hug with their mother.

As they pulled away, Joe came in and asked "Are you kids ready?" The kids nodded as they got their luggage and headed outside. As the kids were piling their luggage in the car, Holly came up to Audrey and said "I can't believe your leaving."

Audrey walked up her best friend and hugged her tightly. "I'll be back before you know it. You'll be just fine without me."

They held each other's hands and Holly said "I hope so. Just stay safe alright."

"I'll try" Audrey chuckled before they got into one more hug. Once they slowly pulled away, Audrey said "You better get going or you'll be late for school."

"One more hug for the road?" Holly asked holding her arms out. Audrey rolled her eyes as the two best friends shared one more hug as Holly said to her "I'll Skype you tonight."

"Okay" Audrey said as Holly headed off to school. The second hardest thing that Audrey hates about going on the road with her father is leaving her best friend behind.

Meanwhile as Joe was about to leave to meet up with the kids, Dinah grabbed his wrist out of nowhere and said "If anything happens to them, there will be hell to pay..."

With that said, Joe nodded his head and headed out to help the kids load the last of their stuff. "We're headed to the next state for the next Raw and Smackdown in Birmingham, Alabama" Joe told the kids as they all piled into the car.

The kids all sat in the back as Joe started up the car and they drove off, while Dinah just stood there and simply watched as her ex-husband took her kids away from her, knowing there was nothing she could do.

As Joe drove, he looked in his to his rear view mirror to see the kids not acknowledging his existence. Neil and Tyson were staring out the window as Audrey had her Beats on listening to music as Vincent leaned on her shoulder.

After what seemed like a never ending drive, they finally made it to the hotel the WWE Superstars and Divas were staying at in Birmingham. When the kids got all their stuff out of the trunk, they headed into the hotel behind Joe.

The kids were standing in the lobby as Joe checked them. "How are you holding up?" Jon said as he walked up to Joe.

Joe glanced back at the kids and said "It's pretty rough, but I'm ready for the challenge."

Once they were checked in, Joe and the kids headed upstairs to their suite. Since Joe will be traveling with his kids now, he won't be rooming with other Superstars. When they got to their room, the kids placed their stuff down, Joe shoved his hands in his pockets and asked "So, do you kids want anything to eat?"

The kids exchanged glances and Neil spoke out "We're good, we're just gonna do some homework first."

"Okay, well just keep your keys and phones on you in case you guys go out and remember to be here tonight because we have our first meeting with the court appointed social worker."

The kids nodded their heads as Joe scratched the back of his neck and said "Well, I gotta go get ready for the show. If you need anything I have my phone on me."

The kids nodded as the kids got their stuff and did their homework. This felt very strange to the kids. The kids are simply trying to understand how their father could love a lifestyle like this. After finishing up their lessons for the day, Neil asked his siblings "Do you guys wanna go out to eat?"

"Yeah!" The twins said in unison. Neil looked at Audrey and asked her "Audrey you wanna go?"

"Ummm, I'm not hungry. Bring me back something?"

"Alright" Neil said as he grabbed his jacket, the keys to Joe's SUV, and he and the twins headed out. As Audrey sat there, she looked out of the window to see all the beautiful buildings here in Birmingham. Birmingham is filled with so much history. This rustic town was so beautiful to Audrey. As Audrey stared out the window, an idea popped into her head.

Audrey changed into a black skull cropped tank top, black leather jacket, black cheetah printed skinny jeans, and her black studded lace up riding boots. Audrey grabbed her art bag and her black New Orleans Saints New Era and headed out.

**...**

Meanwhile, Joe was backstage with Colby and Jon getting ready for their promo against Evolution. As Joe stretched, Colby asked "You never told us the court ruling. What happened?"

"Yeah, you never told us why your kids were here" Jon added on.

After Joe finished stretching, he taped up and explained "Well, the court decided to let me have custody of the kids for one month to see if I'm mentally competent of taking care of my kids. If things go well, I might get visitation..."

"That's great!" Colby said.

"Maybe, but things haven't gone so well."

"So did the kids find out? About Zara?" Jon asked.

"Nope, I managed to dodge it in court, I told them my job was so demanding that I couldn't be as involved in their lives."

"Man, did you lie on the record?" Colby asked.

"I didn't lie, I just didn't talk about it."

"It'll only be a matter of time before they find out. You know what will happen when they do" Jon warned his friend.

"I know, but in court? No, I'm going to tell them on my terms. Are you guys ready?" Joe asked them finishing taping up his wrists.

They nodded as they headed to the ring. Although Joe won in court, his problems are far from over. Joe knows that there are more to being a parent that just having his kids around. He has a lot to prove and a lot of people he needs to prove wrong. Joe knows he can be a good parent and all he needs is this chance to prove it.

...

After leaving the hotel, Audrey walked through the heart of Birmingham with her art supplies in hand. Birmingham was so rustic and filled with history. Audrey could feel the history surging through her. As Audrey walked through the city, she saw this old, decrepit building behind a chained fence. Audrey walked up to the fence and simply stared at that building.

Audrey climbed the fence, threw her art supplies down before jumping down herself. Once Audrey was on the ground, she got some white spray paint from her bag and started spraying the side of the building. Once that was done, she grabbed a stencil of one of her pieces from her art bag. A stencil of a young girl of a young girl in a Catholic School uniform and a chainsaw in her hands. This was one of Audrey's first pieces of an artist.

Once she got the stencil on the building, she started filling it in with her acrylic paint. Audrey got every single detail of the young girl perfectly, from the bows in her hair to the small details on her uniform. Once that was finished, Audrey pulled the stencil off the wall before grabbing her black spray paint and spraying on the wall on the bottom of her art "_Respect the chainsaw..._"

When Audrey finished up her work of art, she stepped back and admired her work. When Audrey looks at that chainsaw girl, she saw a little bit of herself. She saw a young girl who people can interpret as 'weak' but that chainsaw in her hand was a symbol of her strength and drive. Something people can't take away from her.

As Audrey stood there, she could hear police sirens behind her. Audrey turned around see police officers standing there. "Place your hands in the air!" the police officer yelled.

Audrey placed her hands up but she wasn't afraid...

**...**

After the show, Joe walked back to the hotel to find the court appointed social worker there waiting for him. The social worker walked up to him and asked "Joseph Anoa'i?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Jonathan Belle. I'm the court appointed social worker assigned to your case."

"It's nice to meet you and please just call me Joe" Joe said shaking Jonathan's hands.

"Alright Joe, are your kids upstairs? So we can get this meeting out of the way?" He asked.

"Yeah, let's head up" Joe said as they headed upstairs to Joe's hotel room. When they got upstairs, Joe opened the door to his hotel room to find Neil, Tyson, and Vincent there eating pizza. Joe looked around and asked "Where's your sister?"

"She must've went out, her art kit isn't here" Tyson said with a mouthful pizza.

"Well, we can't start the meeting without the whole family" Jonathan said.

"Guys, this is Jonathan Belle, the court appointed social worker" Joe introduced him to his kids. "It's nice to meet you kids."

"Well, where did Audrey go?" Joe asked.

"We don't know. We came back with some food for her but she was already gone" Neil said. And as if on cue, there was knocking at the door. Joe walked over to the door and opened it to find Audrey with two police officers.

"Are you Joseph Anoa'i?" one of the officers asked.

"Yes, what did my daughter do?"

"We caught her tagging a side of the building."

"It's called art!" Audrey argued.

"Well here, it's called vandalizing private property" the other officer said. "Since she has no prior record, we're releasing her into your custody."

"Thank you officer. Have a nice night" Joe said as Audrey walked into the hotel room. Joe closed the door and faced Audrey and asked "Why did you do that?"

"Because, I'm an artist. This is how I express myself as an artist, but you would know that if you were around" Audrey said before heading off to the her bedroom.

Joe combed his hair back and said to his sons "Kids, can you go to your rooms? I need to talk to the social worker." The boys did as they were told as Joe faced the social worker "How does this look?"

"Not good. Can I give you a little advice?"

Joe nodded his head, "Yeah, you were never around her growing up, you can't take that back. But that doesn't mean you can't set limits with her. If you don't set limits, she'll think she do whatever she wants and can get away with doing anything. You need to put your foot down and show her your not going to back down. But as far as this meeting goes, Audrey's arrest will go down on the record. I'll see you guys next week."

And with that Jonathan left. Jonathan was right, Joe needed to lay down with Audrey. Joe walked into her room to find her painting on her travel easel she brought with her. "Audrey, we need to talk."

Audrey simply ignored him as he sat on the foot of her bed and he continued "Audrey, what you did was against the law. You can't do whatever you want, there are consequences for your actions. Your lucky the officers let you off with a warning."

Audrey finally turned to her father and said "Really? Because at the end day I have to come back to a stranger. And nowadays it's apparently against the law to express yourself freely. And you said there were consequences to everyone's actions. What were the consequences of your actions when you cheated on mom?"

Joe looked away as Audrey continued "Look, this 'little experiment' that the courts are doing is nothing but a joke and all of this is just gonna blow up in your face. Your not kidding anybody, just get over yourself."

Once all was said and done, Audrey went back to her painting and Joe let himself out of her room. Joe just combed his hair back, Joe was at a loss for words. With Audrey there were absolutely no boundaries. Audrey doesn't know or care what lines she crosses. As Joe stood there, his phone started ringing. It was Dinah.

"Dinah..."

"Just to be clear, I didn't call for you. I called to check up on the kids, but none of them were answering. How are the kids?"

Joe chuckled as he sat down on the couch and said "Where to start..."

* * *

**Author's Note:  
Well, that just happened. What are your thoughts on Audrey's arrest? Also, it seems the social worker has some words of wisdom for Joe. Will Joe stand is ground and fight or will let his teenage daughter walk all over him?  
Lemme know your thoughts!  
Please Read&Review**


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: High as a Kite

After spending several days in Birmingham, Alabama, WWE's next destination is San Antonio, Texas. Moving from one city to the next was very draining for the kids. They tried very hard to understand why their father enjoyed this lifestyle, but in the end they were stumped. After driving in a car with Joe for several hours, they finally made it to their hotel. Today, Joe was going to show the kids the arena.

After they settled into the hotel, the kids grabbed their backpacks and followed Joe to the AT&T Center. "This is where we're going to be filming the show tonight" Joe said as he showed the kids around backstage.

"So, why are we here again?" Tyson asked.

"So I can keep an eye of you guys" Joe said to his children. The last thing Joe needed was Audrey getting into more trouble. Joe was already in deep with the court appointed social worker.

"You can't keep eyes on us 24/7. You have a match and a promo tonight. Who's gonna keep us out of trouble until then?" Audrey asked challenging Joe. Audrey had more tricks up her sleeve and had no problem keeping Joe on his toes.

"I was hoping you'd say that" Joe said, thinking one step ahead of Audrey. And as if on cue Chris Irvine or "Chris Jericho" and Paul Wight or "The Big Show" walked up to them. "So, I asked Chris and Paul to watch you guys until the meeting tonight."

"Baby sitters?" Neil asked, almost insulted. Neil, Audrey, Tyson, and Vincent are very capable of taking care of themselves, but he can kinda understand why he's doing this. Audrey has been infamous for challenging authority and always has trouble following her.

"We kinda prefer the term 'supervisors'" Chris joked.

"So, babysitters..." Audrey said with sarcasm dripping off her tongue.

"I know you guys can take care of yourselves, but I just need to know you guys will be in one piece before the meeting tonight. I'm already in deep with the social worker" Joe said, trying to direct his words to Audrey.

"Alright..." Vincent said to Joe.

"I gotta go now, I'll see you kids after the show" Joe said before heading over to the gym to warm up before the show.

**...**

When Joe gets to the gym, he started his cross fit exercise to warm up for the show tonight. As Joe lifted weights, Jon and Colby walked up to him to work out with him. Colby asked "So word in the locker room is Chris and Paul are watching your kids today?"

"Yeah, I can not trust them alone."

"Why? What did they do?" Jon chuckled as he did some ab crunches.

"It's more like what did Audrey do. In the last city, Audrey got arrested for vandalism. Now, I'm in pretty deep water with the court appointed social worker."

"She got arrested?!" Jon asked.

"Yeah, she tagged a building. She argued that she was expressing herself and finding an outlet for her creativity, but she's lucky she didn't go to jail."

"Man, your daughter's a hell cat" Seth chuckled.

"Don't I know it? Dinah called a couple nights ago and when I told her, she went off on me. She told me that I had to keep Audrey out of trouble and she was pissed."

"That's why you stuck Chris and Paul on her?" Jon asked.

"That's the best I can do. She's right when she said I can't keep my eyes on them 24/7. This is the only thing I can do."

"Do you think Chris and Paul will be okay?" Seth asked, showing a little concern for his coworkers. Audrey was capable of practically anything.

"They're men, I'm pretty sure they can handle one 16 year old girl" Joe said before his phone started ringing. "I gotta take this" Joe said as he got up and went to go to take the call.

"Hey, Dinah" Joe said with a smile unknowingly appearing on his face.

"Hey, Joe. I was just calling to check in."

"The kids are just fine. I'm really trying my best to keep them out of trouble, but there's four of them and only one of me."

"Actually, I'm calling to check in on you. I wanted to see how you've been..."

"Really? Because every time we talk, you chew me out like there's no tomorrow" Joe said telling the truth. Dinah had no problem chewing Joe out for his mistakes, but she always had a soft spot for him.

"Yeah, but since you're watching the kids, I don't want to be at your throat all the time..."

"Wow, who are you and what have you done to Dinah?" Joe joked.

"Ha ha, well listen I'll call you later. I have a lot of work to do, but I hope your doing well."

"Thanks, I'll talk to you later Dinah."

"See ya Joe."

With that, Joe hung up his phone and he smiled to himself. The fact that Dinah was showing her concern for him, warmed Joe's heart. This really reminded Joe that Dinah wasn't angry all the time. That deep down, she was the same Dinah that he fell in love with. Joe's thoughts were interrupted when his phone started ringing again.

"Hey Caroline..."

Joe still loves Caroline. Caroline is his soon-to-be wife and the mother of his child. But Dinah still has this special place in Joe's heart. Dinah was Joe's first real love. Was it possible for Joe to be in love with two women at the same time?

**...**

The night came by quickly and the kids were still at the arena and were still being watched by Joe's coworkers. Audrey was sitting on a crate sketching in her art notebook, while Tyson was sitting at the table playing video games, Vincent was reading a book, and Neil was dribbling a soccer ball. The kids really had to give up a lot because of this court order. All the kids could really do was adapt.

As they sat there, Tyson asked "How long do you guys have to watch us?"

"Just until your father finishes up with the show" Chris informed them.

"But that's until like midnight" Neil complained.

"Hey, your dad just told us to watch you guys until he was done."

Audrey scowled at the thought of staying in this arena until midnight. Audrey felt like a prisoner. It was then an idea popped into her head. Audrey looked through her backpack, placed $40 into her pocket, got up and Paul asked her "And where are you going?"

"I'm just going to the bathroom."

"Okay..." Paul said giving her the okay.

Audrey nodded as she grabbed her phone and went to find the bathroom. When Audrey found it, she walked in to find no one was inside. Audrey smirked as she looked around and found a window on top of the sink. Audrey climbed on top of the sink, pushed the window open, and managed to squeeze through. Audrey landed on her feet, hailed a cab, and headed for downtown San Antonio. Tonight, Audrey was going to have some fun.

Once she got off, Audrey walked the streets of San Antonio. Audrey hated being cooped up in the arena all night. As Audrey walked around, she smelled the faint smell of weed. Audrey followed the smell and saw two guys around the street corner smoking blunts.

Audrey walked to them and asked "Do you guys have edibles?"

"Depends who's asking?" One of the guys said.

Audrey flashed them $40 and asked "I'm asking."

They raised an eyebrow as Audrey gave them the money. They exchanged looks before giving Audrey two weed brownies. Audrey took one bite before she knew it, it began to hit her...

**...**

Meanwhile, Neil, Tyson, Vincent, Chris, and Paul were standing outside of the women's restroom for over 20 minutes and Audrey has yet to come out. They were getting pretty suspicious now.

"It's been over 20 minutes and she hasn't come out yet" Vincent said stating the facts.

"What is she doing in there?" Neil asked curiously. As they stood there, the Bella twins came out of the bathroom. Chris stopped them and asked "Nikki, Brie is there anyone in the bathroom?"

"No, there's no one else in there" Brie said.

"Yeah, but there was something weird in there" Nikki added.

"What?" Paul asked.

"A window on top of the sink was wide open. Which is weird because all the other windows weren't open."

Their eyes widened as Chris looked at Audrey brothers and asked "Your sister climbed out a window?"

"She was wearing sensible shoes..." Vincent thought out loud.

"Where would she go?!" Paul asked freaking out. "Joe is going to kill us."

And as if on cue, Neil's phone started ringing, it was 210 area code. Neil picked up and said "Hello?"

"Neil, I think I was abducted..." Audrey whispered.

"Audrey, what's going on? Where are you?"

"I don't know. Why am I in a cell? I don't even know how I got here" Audrey whispered before she started laughing out of nowhere.

"Audrey are you high?"

"No because I'm sitting down" Audrey said matter-of-factly. Neil groaned at the fact that his baby sister was high out of her mind.

"Okay, we're gonna go pick you up. Just hang tight."

"You want me to hang myself?" Audrey asked freaking out.

"No! No! Just stay there until we come" Neil said hanging up the phone. Neil wiped the sweat of his eyebrow and confessed "Audrey is jail and is freaking high. She probably got arrested for possession of marijuana."

"WHAT?!" Chris asked freaking out. At that moment, Chris and Paul knew what Audrey was capable of doing.

"Okay, just calm down. We'll go pick her up before the show finishes" Neil said as he and the twins ran out the arena doors to bail Audrey out of jail. Neil hailed a cab and after a short ride, they made it to the jail Audrey was being kept. When they rushed in, they found Audrey doing handstands in her cell. A sure fire sign that Audrey was officially out of her mind.

Neil signed some paperwork and he managed to bail Audrey out of jail. Since it was a minor offense, they didn't bother charging her. When the guard opened Audrey's cell, Neil rushed over to her, picked her up over his shoulder and they ran out of the jail.

"I'm flying!" Audrey yelled.

"Where are we going?" Tyson asked.

"We're gonna get munchies for this one before we head back to the hotel" Neil said hailing a cab.

Neil had never been high before, but he's seen his friends get high before. All he can really do was get his baby sister the munchies to soothe her monster appetite and try to help her look sober before Joe and the social worker notices something is off about her.

**...**

Once the show was over, Joe went backstage to see Chris and Paul there without the kids. "Hey guys, where are the kids?"

"They... uh went back to the hotel to get some rest" Chris said lying through his teeth.

"Okay, that's where the social worker is going to meet us for the meeting. Thanks again for watching my kids" Joe said before heading back to the hotel.

After a short drive back from the arena to the hotel, Joe entered the lobby to find Jonathan waiting there for him. "Hey Jonathan."

"Hi, Joe" Jonathan said shaking his hand. "Well, why don't we get the meeting started?"

"Of course, the kids are upstairs in the room. Why don't we head up?" and with that Jonathan and Joe headed up to his hotel room. When they entered the room, they found Audrey watching Spongebob and laughing her little heart out, while Neil, Tyson, and Vincent were eating Jack 'n' the Box on the couch.

"Hey guys" Joe said to his kids.

"Since, we're all here, why don't we get the weekly meeting started" Jonathan said as he set his bag on the table. Joe sat down as Neil helped Audrey up and they all sat down at the table.

As they sat there, Audrey began swaying back and forth as her eyes began to roll around aimlessly. "Audrey are you okay?" Joe asked.

"I don't know, why am I not wearing any shoes?" Audrey asked cluelessly as her feet swayed back and forth.

Joe raised his eyebrow and pointed out "You are wearing shoes." When Joe said that, Audrey started laughing out of nowhere. Joe was so confused to what was going on.

"Audrey..." Neil whispered to his sister trying to keep her under control.

Audrey nodded her head as she took a deep breath, trying to suppress her laughter. Audrey knew that if she ate weed brownies, the high would hit her harerd.

Jonathan was a little confused as well, but just shook it off "Okay, since we're all together, it is my duty..." but he was caught off by Audrey's roaring laughter.

"What's so funny?" Jonathan asked.

"You said doodie" Audrey breathed out between her laughter. Audrey was laughing so hard that she started crying.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Jonathan asked confused.

Joe looked at his daughter and then he managed to catch a faint smell of weed. Joe came closer to Audrey, smelt her and asked "Audrey are you high?"

"How many times do I have to say it. If I'm high, why aren't I floating?"

Joe looked at her confused before waving his hand in front of her face and her eyes quickly followed it. "Audrey, you are high!" Joe scolded her.

"So what if I am" Audrey snarked.

"Where did you get the drugs?"

"From some nice guys off the street" Audrey said nonchalantly.

"How did this happen?" Joe asked Neil.

"Well, we were in the arena for a while after you left. Audrey left saying she had to go to the bathroom. After 20 minutes she didn't come back and then we found out she got out by climbing out of a window in the bathroom. Next thing we knew, Audrey got arrested for possession of marijuana. The police found pot brownies on her. But since it was a minor offense, they didn't charge so they let her go. But they just kept her in a cell until someone came to get her"

"Great..." Joe said throwing his hands up in the air. "Boys take your sister to bed."

Neil carried Audrey to bed as she yelled "I'm flying again!" while Tyson and Vincent trailed behind them.

Joe reluctantly faced Jonathan, who asked "What happened to setting limits with her? Joe she got arrested again."

"I know, I tried to set limits with her but she couldn't give a shit. All she did was give me a lot attitude. She walked all over me."

"She walks all over you because you let her..." Jonathan said giving Joe a dose of reality. "Joe, I know you want her to accept you, but if you don't stand your ground with her, imagine what path she'll go down. Audrey needs your guidance. Audrey is a bright child, but if she lets her anger blind her perspective, she's gonna throw away everything she's worked for. Joe, your not supposed to be her friend, your supposed to be her father..."

Joe nodded his head as Jonathan continued "Look, I have to log this into the record, but Joe you need to put her foot down with her. She can't keep getting away with the stuff..."

With that said, Jonathan grabbed his bag and left. Joe was one of the toughest wrestlers in the ring, but when it came to Audrey, it looks like Joe had finally met his match. Joe wanted Audrey to accept him into her life but at the same time didn't want to force his way back in either.

Joe just nodded his head as went to go check on Audrey. Joe quietly opened her bedroom door to she that Audrey was soundly asleep. The high must have been wearing off. As Joe quietly looked at his daughter, his phone started vibrating. It was a text message from Zara.

_Daddy, I love you a lot! Please come back home soon_

Joe smiled at this message. Joe loves Zara with all his heart, but he also loves Audrey as well. Joe's priorities were all over the place. Joe has to think about what's really important in his life...

* * *

**Author's Note:  
Well, Audrey seems like she's having a pretty awesome high right now. Also, Joe really needs to get his priorities in check. Do you think it's right for Joe to love his ex-wife and his fiance?  
Also, do you think Audrey is doing all of this like getting arrested on purpose?  
What do you guys think? Lemme know in your review!  
Also, please Read&Review this story if you haven't already  
**


	16. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:  
****Hey guys! I hope you guys are having a great Labor Day weekend and I hope you guys are having fun. So I decided to do one more quick update. This chapter might be a little heavy because Joe does something that really shakes up his relationship with his daughter and sons.  
So please Read&Review and I hope you guys had a fun and safe Labor Day weekend. **

* * *

Chapter 15: The Reaction

After bidding farewell to San Antonio, Joe, Neil, Audrey, Tyson, Vincent, and the WWE were headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico. After only a few hours of driving, they made it to their hotel pretty early in the morning. Once Joe got them checked in, Joe instructed his kids "Can you guys sit down for a minute? We need to have a talk."

The kids sat down on the bed as Joe paced in front of his kids and said "You guys have really been making this entire situation a lot harder than it needs to be. I know your mother didn't raise you guys to act like this."

"How would you know?" Tyson snarked at him.

"Yeah, you were never around anyway. Mom raised us just fine" Neil added.

Joe combed his hair back, threw his hands in the air and said "Ok, give me your room keys."

"WHAT?!" the kids yelled in unison.

"You heard me. It's pretty obvious that I can't trust you guys out of the hotel and having people watch you guys isn't any better. So, the only way I can have you guys stay out of trouble is if you guys are in the hotel. So, hand them over" Joe said flashing his open hand in front of his children. One by one, the kids handed Joe their room keys. When Audrey handed Joe her room key, he gave her a look. Audrey took another hotel room key out of her top and placed it Joe's hand. He gave her another look and she groaned out loud as she took her final spare key out of her combat boot and placed it his hand.

"Is this all of them?" Joe asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I swear that's all of them" Audrey said placing her hands up in the air. Joe nodded his head and said "Ok good. I'll see you guys tonight."

With that Joe grabbed his bag, placed all the keys inside his bag, and headed out. "Where did she get all those keys?" Joe asked himself before headed to the arena. Meanwhile in the room, Neil looked at his sister and asked "Where did you get the extra keys?"

"I told the front desk that we were expecting guests. It looked like Joe was about to have a heart attack" Audrey said chuckling.

**...**

When Joe finally made it to the arena, he met up with Colby and Jon at catering. "Hey guys."

"Hey man, where are your kids?" Colby asked looking around.

"I locked them into the hotel room and took away their room keys."

"Seriously man?" Jon asked giving his best friend a look.

"I had to man. I can't trust them roaming around by themselves. For all I know, Audrey would rob a bank, Neil would steal a car, and the twins would do drugs. I can't risk another bad report going on the record. I'm already looking pretty bad to the court appointed social worker. If this is the only way I can keep them out of trouble, then I have to do what I have to do."

"Isn't that what you said the last time?" Colby asked chuckling.

"I know, but this time this plan is bulletproof. They can't get out and no one can come in."

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Jon asked.

"I'm running out of options" Joe exclaimed. And he was, Joe was running out of energy in trying to keep his kids in line. His children had no problem challenging his authority or pissing him off for fun. But Jonathan was right, if Joe lets his kids keep walking all over him, they're anger blind how they see the world.

As they stood there, Stephen Farrelly or better known as 'Sheamus' came up to them and said cheerfully "Hey fellas."

"Hey man" Joe said to his friend and coworker.

"So, a bunch of us were planning to go get some dinner after the show. How about the three of you fellas join us?"

"That sounds cool!" "Count me in" Colby and Jon said, accepting Stephen's invitation.

"Would you mind if I brought my kids? I think it'd be nice if we all ate dinner together for a change" Joe asked.

"Why not? The more the merrier" Stephen said with a jolly smile.

This way maybe Joe could try to open his children up to the world...

**...**

After spending several hours inside their hotel room, the kids have officially lost their minds. Audrey was on her laptop, chatting with Holly while Neil was laying on his bed, catching his soccer ball and the twins were watching the final moments of Monday Night Raw. The Authority had placed The Shield in a match against the Wyatt Family with a special appearance from Evolution.

"I can't believe you two are still watching that mind numbing crud?" Audrey asked.

"Hey just because our dad is a slime ball, doesn't mean he can't kick butt in the ring" Tyson commented.

"You guys should read a book or something" Neil said playing with his soccer ball.

"I have plenty of time to read a book" Tyson commented. Sometimes the reason Tyson refuses to read a book is because he is allergic to publishing print. As they chilled out in their hotel room, Joe came back to the hotel with Jon and Colby.

"Hey, did you guys watch the show?" Joe asked. The kids flashed him a look of scorn as Neil asked "What do you think?"

Things got awkward very quickly, so Colby jumped in and said "We're going out to dinner with some of the superstars and divas. You guys wanna come?"

"Who's going?" Vincent asked.

"Stephen (Sheamus), Phil (CM Punk), John, Bryan (Daniel Bryan), Brie, Nikki, AJ, Saraya (Paige), and us" Jon said.

"It beats takeout" Neil said to his brothers and sister. The siblings exchanged looks and Audrey said "Why not?"

Joe smiled and said "Great. Let's head out." The kids got up and headed out with Joe, Jon, and Colby. They piled into two cars; one with Joe and the kids, the other with Jon and Colby, as they headed out to meet up with everyone at a local restaurant in Albuquerque.

**...**

When finally made it to the restaurant, the kids headed inside and sat down in a booth as Joe asked them "What do you guys want?"

"Pasta" Neil ordered.

"Sushi" Vincent stacked on.

"Burger" Tyson added on.

"Anything with no meat" Audrey ordered.

Joe looked at Audrey as Tyson informed him "She's a vegetarian."

"A hardcore one" Neil commented.

"Imagine how that poor chicken, or cow, or pig, or fish felt when it was being made into your food. I couldn't live with that guilt of depriving a family of their child" Audrey said explaining her philosophy.

Joe chuckled and asked "So salad?"

"Yeah, salad's good."

Joe headed to the counter and said "Give me, one order of chicken Alfredo, one California roll, one hamburger, and what kind of salads do you have here?"

"We have a really good tofu, walnut salad that's very popular" the cashier said.

"That sounds good. Give me that" Joe said as he made his order.

Once Joe made his order, he joined everyone else at their booth. "So why don't you guys tell us about yourselves?" Brie asked the kids.

"Well, I play a little soccer" Neil said. "Hey, your really good. You're qualified for a D-1 scholarship at the University of New Orleans" Joe informed them.

"That's incredible, fella" Stephen said.

"Thanks, I guess" Neil said awkwardly.

"I do karate" Tyson said.

"You don't just do it, you have a black belt" Joe informed.

"I play piano" Vincent stacked on.

"For the Junior Symphonic Orchestra" Joe added.

"I paint a little" Audrey said.

"A little? You could get a scholarship to paint at the Amsterdam School of the Arts" Joe informed everyone.

Audrey scoffed a bit and said "You actually say all of this like you were a part of it." The atmosphere got tense pretty quickly. Joe was proud of all of his kids' achievements, but he wasn't a part of any of them. Before anyone can say anything else, the waiter came by with their food.

"Great food's here!" Phil said trying to cut the tension. Joe and Jon distributed out the food as everyone tried to have a peaceful dinner. As Audrey ate her salad, Stephen asked her "How's the salad, lass?"

"Pretty good" Audrey said as she continued eating.

As Audrey ate her salad, she felt something hit her. She felt herself getting really hot and she started sweating. Audrey felt her forehead, and next thing she knew, she felt her tongue swelling up and felt something coming up her throat. The next she knew she was throwing up blood on the floor, her throat closed up, she fell on the floor and started shaking as everyone stared at her.

Her family ran over to her and Joe asked "Audrey? Are you okay!? What's going on?"

Neil checked Audrey's plate and asked Joe "What was in her salad!?"

Joe thought for a minute and said "Lettuce, tofu, olives, walnuts..." Neil's head snapped to Joe and asked "WALNUTS!? She's deathly allergic to them! We need to get her to the hospital!"

"Got it!" Joe said as he picked Audrey up bridal style as they all rushed to the hospital.

**...**

The WWE superstars and divas were waiting outside Audrey's hospital room with Joe, Neil, and the twins waiting to hear any news on Audrey's condition. When a doctor came out of Audrey's hospital room, Neil ran up to him and asked "How is she?"

"Well, you're lucky you got her here when you did" the doctor said.

"Why is that?" Joe asked.

"Any longer she would've gone into cardiac arrest. But, we managed to resuscitate her and we gave her something for her allergies. Her temperature's gone down and her vitals are stable. She lost a lot of blood, so we needed to hydrate her. What happened?"

"She accidentally ate walnuts and she's really allergic to them" Neil explained.

"Well, just be more careful. It could've been worse."

"When can she leave?" Neil asked.

"Tomorrow, we need to keep her overnight for observation."

"Thank you" Neil said.

"Can we go see her?" Tyson asked.

"Yeah, you guys can go see her" the doctor said as Tyson and Vincent ran inside to check up on his sister.

Neil wiped his face, before punching Joe right in the face, knocking him off his feet. Normally it would take a real punch to knock Joe off his feet, and Neil had it. This proved that Neil was really Joe's son. This was the first time Neil has genuinely been angry. When it came to his family, Neil will give up everything to protect them. Stephen, Phil, and Bryan held back Neil as he yelled "You almost killed my sister, you son of a bitch!"

"I didn't know!" Joe yelled back as Jon and Colby helped him up.

"You didn't bother now! You were never around to know! You didn't care enough to know!" Neil yelled as he shook of the the guys off. "Audrey almost died once because of an allergic reaction like this."

Joe looked at Neil with wide eyes and asked "It did?"

"It happened when she was younger. Mom told the private charter school Audrey went to that she had allergies and they really didn't pay attention. One day, her classmates was handing out cookies and she didn't say was in them. When Audrey took one bite, she started sweating like crazy, her tongue swelled up, and she couldn't stop shaking. She had a seizure and went into cardiac arrest. They resuscitated her at the hospital, but they said that she almost died. Mom was going to sue the school, but she couldn't afford a good lawyer, so they just swept it under the rug and pretended it never happened" Neil explained with tears glazing over his eyes.

At that moment, Joe felt like a stranger to his children. He didn't know anything about them and didn't care enough to ask. Joe never felt more out of touch with his kids and his inability to care almost cost his daughter her life.

"Life was so much easier without you in it. You made our lives a living hell. So, just do everyone a favor and just leave, because we all know that you don't have any problem doing that. Just wait until the social worker hears about this. You don't have what it takes to be a father" Neil said with his voice full of venom before going to check on his sister.

Joe peeked into Audrey's room to see that she was simply unconscious. After that, Joe just stood there as his Jon asked him "You okay man?"

"You didn't know, it's not your fault" Colby reassured him as their co-workers surrounded them.

Joe punched a hole in the wall and screamed at the top of lungs like he does in the ring, before throwing a trash can across the hall as everyone backed away. Joe just broke down crying, as Colby and Jon tried their best to calm him down.

Joe had never felt more like a failure as a father...

* * *

**Author's Note:  
****Wow, this is the first time Neil has gotten really angry like that. Do you think Neil had the right to get angry at Joe over a simple mistake? And actually did a little research and there are some food allergies that can cause seizures and cause a person to go into cardiac arrest.  
****But I guess the million dollar question is do you guys think Joe is a bad father for what he did?**


	17. Chapter 16

**Author's Note:  
I am back! I am so sorry that I didn't update at all last week but I had sorority recruitment all weekend and it has taken a lot of energy out of me. But I am happy to say that I am now a proud member of Phi Mu!  
So here is the update! In this chapter we kinda get a glimpse into Audrey's world. We all know that she was probably hit the hardest since Joe abandoned their family, but we'll get learn what happened to her when her father left and why she has all this pent up animosity for Joe.  
Anyways, Please Read&Review**

* * *

Chapter 16: My World

After the incident that happened with Audrey with her severe allergic reaction, Joe has really been on thin ice with not just the court appointed social worker, but with his children as well. Joe's competency as a parent is now in question. This morning as he and the kids headed to the arena for the day, the children wouldn't even acknowledge his presence. The kids haven't been really able to look at Joe after everything that happened.

Today was WWE's last day in Albuquerque before moving on to their next city: Phoenix, Arizona. Audrey was released from the hospital yesterday and she has been nothing but cold to Joe, if not colder than she was before. All that anger that she had with her father only intensified after what he did. Today, Neil and Audrey were in the catering area of the arena doing homework, while Tyson and Vincent were out with Jon and Colby.

Audrey was sitting at catering with Neil doing some of the school work assigned to them while they were on the road with their father. This was the school's way of making sure the kids don't fall behind on their school work while they were on the road. Although the kids were on the road, academics were still being pushed heavily. Neil was doing a book report on _A Midsummer's Night Dream_ for his AP Literature class, while Audrey was working on her family tree project.

"This book impossible! I get that everyone falls for the wrong person, but can't they use a language we understand" Neil complained as his head fell on his book. Literature wasn't always Neil's strong suit.

"It's the Shakespearean Era. Imagine how dumb Shakespeare would sound if he talked like this: '_Love looks totally not with the eyes, but with the mind yo,_  
_And therefore is winged Cupid painted super blind_'. Just imagine that" Audrey joked.

Neil chuckled and said "Got a point there. Hey, where are the twins?"

"Colby and Jon took them out to the amusement park."

"Do you know when they're getting back?"

"Probably later tonight. Colby and Jon wanted to keep them occupied since they had a day off today. With everything that's happened, the twins needed a little time to have fun and just be kids."

As they continued their homework, Joe was behind them with a tray of coffee after making a quick coffee run. Although this was a small gesture, Joe really needed to break the tension that has developed between him and his children. He took a deep breath, before going up to his children saying "I got you guys a little coffee, since you guys are working really hard on homework. Your mother told me your favorite drinks. One Caramel Macchiato with two extra shots for Neil and a Vanilla Chai Latte for Audrey" as he placed the drinks by his children.

They didn't even bother to look at him, not acknowledging what their father did for them and simply continued working. Even Joe's presence irked Audrey. When it was evident that Joe was not going to go away, Audrey was just fed up. Audrey couldn't take it anymore and simply packed up her stuff, took the latte and left. As she left, she tossed the latte in the trash, right in front of Joe.

Joe simply groaned before sitting down next to Neil and said "I don't know what else to do. I get she's angry over what happened, but I'm really sorry."

"You should be telling her that..." Neil said working on his book report, not even making eye contact with Joe.

"I get that she's angry at me, but I'm really trying to make it up to her. I'm trying so hard. Why is she still so upset at me?"

"It wasn't just because of what happened last night. And it's not only because you left, it's how she suffered after you left" Neil said not even looking at his father.

"What do you mean?"

Neil put down his pen and confessed to Joe the life they had when he left them behind, "After the twins were born and we moved to New Orleans. Mom wanted us to get a quality education, so she sent us to these exclusive charter schools in the area. Audrey went to this charter elementary school that was filled with traditional, conservative white people with Republican views. When they learned that you walked out on us, her classmates started bullying her. They would say things like 'you father walked out on you because you look like an alien'. They would say some pretty bad things. The kids at that school were horrible. They would bully Audrey because she came from a family that wasn't like theirs. Audrey would come home everyday from school crying and would beg mom to keep her at home. Mom would go to the principal and tell them to stop bullying, but they didn't do much."

Joe was at a loss for words as Neil continued "I mean it wasn't all that bad, that's when she met her best friend: Holly. They bullied Holly too because she had two dads. They bullied anybody they felt didn't belong. So, I guess something good did come out of this. When she was done with elementary school, mom enrolled us into public school. Things started to look up after that. Even though you weren't around, Holly's dads treated Audrey like a daughter. Audrey would go to Holly's every single day after school, they would carpool, they were inseparable, like sisters. So, it wasn't just because you left, she's mad because people would give her crap for you leaving. People would bully her for things they didn't understand. She always would wonder how life would be, if you never left" before grabbing his stuff and leaving, so Joe can collect his thoughts. Joe never really understood the struggle his family had to suffer because of his leaving.

Meanwhile on the other side of the arena, Audrey was doing her family tree project. Working on this project really gave Audrey insight on what her father's side of the family was like. Audrey came from this whole wrestling dynasty that was revered and respected in the WWE. Audrey came from a family of very talented wrestlers like: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Yokozuna, Rikishi, the Usos, and so many more. Audrey came from a very interesting family.

As she was working, she felt someone sit next to her. She quickly glanced up to see who it was, it was Joe

When Audrey knew it was Joe, she just kept working. Audrey thought that if she just ignored him, he'd go away, but he didn't. Joe didn't know how to approach his stubborn daughter, especially when it had to do with how she was bullied, so he decided to just go ahead and say what was on his mind. With Audrey, it was just best to not beat around the bush.

"Neil told me how you were bullied, because of me..." Joe started.

When Audrey heard those words, she put her pen down and just stared at the wall, not saying a word or even making eye contact with him, as Joe continued "Look, I know I haven't been there for you kids. And it isn't fair that you had to suffer for it. I was never involved and I will have to live with that regret for the rest of my life. You're right, I don't know you kids, but I want to... if you let me."

"Do you know how hard it was to spend 10 years without a dad? Do you have any idea what our lives were like after you disappeared? Do you know how it felt to be art shows and just waiting for family to show up and they never did? Or to not being able to tell my friends why my dad can't show up at the father-daughter dance because he abandoned us?"

"I'm sorry that I put our family through this. You deserve a father who's always gonna be there for you. And it may not seem like it now, but I will spend my whole life trying to prove to you that I can be the father you and your brother's deserve. And all I need it one chance."

Audrey didn't know if Joe's words were genuine, but she sensed this feeling of sincerity. She has never gotten this feeling from Joe before, so she doesn't know how to react. Not even making eye contact with Joe, she cryptically said "Mint green, mushroom olive ranch pizza, _Beastly_, Of Monsters and Men, and Frida Kahlo."

"Excuse me?" Joe asked trying to make sense of what Audrey was trying to tell him.

"My favorite color, my favorite food, my favorite movie, my favorite artist, and my favorite painter. If you really want to get to know me, that's a good place to start" before simply walking away. All Joe could do was smile. Joe felt for the first time that his daughter was letting him into her world...

* * *

**Author's Note:  
****Wow, but bullying totally sucks! If you see anyone being bullied, don't be afraid to go up to them and give them a hand or tell someone. It's amazing how one friend can make all the difference in a person's life. As we see in this chapter, we see that Holly's friendship made a big difference in Audrey's life. Anyways, there is my plug. Don't be a bully, but be a friend.  
****Also, it might seem like Audrey might be coming around. Audrey is finally letting Joe into her world. What are your thoughts on Audrey letting Joe in? Also, I know this chapter is short but this will be the basis for a lot of stuff that's gonna happen later on.  
Anyways, please read and review and let me know what you think!**


End file.
